Real
by hollywar
Summary: She hit his chest with a reassuring thud. Beth's sobbing and clinging to him so fiercely that when he falls, she goes down with him.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Beth was taken to Martin's cabin – not the hospital. Carol and Tyreese save her. Definite plot holes in this story, but I just couldn't handle the end of Coda. Bethyl reunion because I'm not over it.**

 **Real**

Daryl didn't hear anything or anyone.

He can't even hear Rick saying his name sharply, only a mere foot away from him. He can't process anything at the moment because all he can think, feel, smell, _see_ is her.

Her.

Maggie lets out a gut wrenching screech, taking off towards the cabin she's currently making her way out of. He sees her doe eyes widen, sees the look of panic that crosses her face before she realizes that it is in fact the eldest Greene sibling running towards her. He can tell the moment the daze clears from her mind, because her eyes widen and she embraces the much sturdier sister, he can tell it almost knocks her over. Can tell that she doesn't want to be in the embrace.

He realizes that Carol and Tyreese are there as well, embracing the others with laughs of disbelief – disbelief that they would stumble upon each other yet again, in such a fucked up world. Sasha lets out a sob, one that isn't the accustomed sob of terror in this new world. It's of happiness, it's a sob of relief as she rushes into her brother's arms.

He then notices the baby in Carol's arms, notices Rick's face crumble as he rushes to take back the daughter he had thought he had lost forever. Watches as what is left of the Grimes family huddles together, crying happy tears, both Rick's children pressed into his chest as he looks to the sky. Probably thinking about Lori, thinking about how she is the only one of them that hadn't made it.

The scene unfolds in front of him, but all he can do is watch as his feet cement to the forest floor beneath him.

He's happy Lil' Asskicker made it. But the relief he should have felt for his best friend, no brother, was still stuck inside him somewhere because he was watching her.

She closed her eyes as Maggie tugged her close, he could tell by the redness of her face that she is tearing up – and rightfully so. The whole time that they were together out there she had been on a mission to find her sister again.

Glenn is quickly pulled in to the embrace and the couple are laughing laughs of pure and honest to God happiness, that he knows they can't tell the blonde isn't joining in. It's been awhile since anyone had felt anything remotely close to happiness, and he watches it with shaded eyes.

And then he sees when something else clicks in her brain. Sees her slightly try to push her sister and brother-in-law away so she can scan the rest of the group, the rest of the _family_ , searching. Her blue eyes are wide and… _hopeful_.

He's standing a little bit behind Abraham, and her eyes don't catch him immediately. He knows he ain't too small of a man, but with the freckled fucking lumberjack beside him, he doesn't really blame her for not noticing him.

And then the dread comes.

It forms in the pit of his stomach, and he swore his heart turned to steel in that exact moment. The moment that her eyes sweep over him, he stills. Maybe she wasn't looking for him like he was looking for her.

He couldn't beat it off with a stick, even if he tried. Merle's rough cackle echoed loud and unwanted in the depths of his head.

He watches as Maggie asks who she's looking for, who could she possibly be looking for now that the sisters were reunited. But Daryl knows that she saw those signs for Glenn, knows she saw the signs that didn't have her name on them too– knew she recognized deep in her heart that her sister hadn't been looking for her.

She doesn't acknowledge her sister, turns to Rick.

Rick isn't a stupid man. Knows more about this group than he likes to put on, knows more about Daryl than maybe he even knows about himself. Because as soon as she turns to him, Rick nods his head, casting his eyes to where Daryl stood.

Her eyes follow Rick's, and that was that.

It felt like forever – it felt like a thousand years had passed as he watched her blue eyes turned from panic to… to _relief_.

He watched as she forcefully removed Maggie's arms from around her middle when the older woman wasn't ready to let go. He watched at the bewildered look that came across the face of not only Maggie, but Glenn too. Carol, Tyreese, Michonne, Carl, even his Lil' Asskicker seemed to notice that the axis of the world had shifted – and not just because the dead was suddenly walking around.

It changed because blue met blue.

It changed because Daryl and Beth were staring at each other.

A guttural yelp escaped from her, he notices as she takes the first step towards him. He can't move, can't say anything. Beth Greene is making her way towards him at a run – a _desperate_ run as he notices how quick she is. How quick she is on her feet now that it seems her ankle isn't prohibiting her anymore.

That fact startles him; it's been _forever_.

He watches with wide eyes as she's moving people out of the way, as she clumsily teeters and lands herself right in the middle of his chest, her tiny arms squeezing his middle so hard it hurts. He hears himself make an _ouf_ noise as she hits his chest with a thud. A reassuring thud that this isn't a dream – wait.

This is a dream.

It _has_ to be a dream, right?

Rick.

His eyes find his friends in less than a second. Unless separated by force, Rick Grimes and Daryl Dixon knew where to find one another. Knew that the other would always be there, no matter what. Unconditionally. Even though Rick was… is a cop, and Daryl was never nothing more than some redneck trash.

Rick's face melts into complete ease – something Daryl wasn't ever used to seeing. Especially since the fall of the prison, the supposed loss of the youngest Grimes, hell he hadn't saw Rick really smile since Lori. But yet, there Rick stood in all of his gangly beard glory, nodding his head with an upturned curve in his lips, confirming what he knew Daryl was asking.

This was _real_.

 _Holy fuck this is real_.

Beth's sobbing so hard and clinging to him so fiercely that when he falls, she tumbles down with him. His arms circle around her small delicate waist, so tiny that he felt as if he were going to break her. But she's _here,_ she's _alive_ , and he knows that ain't nothing ever going to happen to her again.

There is something bubbling just above the surface that he doesn't quite understand. Something that made him tuck her into his body a little more, suffocate the both of them a little bit more with their choked out sobs.

" _You found me_ ," she hiccupped, and he could feel the wetness of her tears soaking through the front of his only flannel shirt he had left. But he didn't care. He could tell she was struggling to breathe, struggling to come to terms that the search for each other was finally over.

His calloused hand rests in her golden blonde hair, the same shade of hair that haunted his dreams for the past, what, month? Year? Decade? He pushes her head into his chest, aware of the others stares but not finding the strength within himself to care. He tucked her head underneath his chin, smelling her somehow refreshing scent in this new world that proved to be stagnate. It was just him and her for so long, now that they're pressed up against each other again it's easy to forget that they aren't alone.

He notices that she's not the only one with a wet face.

"Holy fuck Beth, you're _here_."

…

After the moment was over, when Maggie had finally had enough and cleared her throat, Daryl realized where he was and what he was doing.

In a heap of a pile on the ground with Beth Greene on top on him, both of their arms clinging to each other like it was their last life line. He supposed she was; his last life line. Had he not found her – no. He wasn't even going there.

It took a second to collect himself, took another second to stand up with the death grip she had on him.

He watched as Beth took in her sister, a flush on her face as she realized that everyone in the group had just been witness to their more than friendly reunion. She untangled her arms from around his middle, and he had a moment of panic – what was he _doing_? But then she gripped his arm closest to her just as tightly as she had been holding onto his middle, turning to the group again. Maybe this was okay.

"We got out together," she easily explained. There were nods of acceptance, but he knew that this was far from over – knew that she had a lot more explaining to do because he had been tight lipped since he had returned with the group. They had questions that he hadn't been able to answer, maybe he never would be able to answer. "I didn't think I'd ever see him again."

The group fell silent, the only sounds to be heard around the cabin were of Judith babbling her normal baby gibberish. Daryl was suddenly very envious of the small baby, she didn't have a care in the world – to Judith the world hadn't ended. She was much too young to understand the hardships going on around her.

"Beth," Maggie began, filling the silence. At her voice many of the others tapered off, the family who hadn't seen Judith turned to her, cooing at the infant. No one wanted to be a part of the inevitable argument that was about to take place. "Can we talk?"

Daryl felt the grip on his arm tighten, and knew this wasn't going to be good.

"No."

Even though everyone was pretending to be occupied, there was an awkwardness that hung in the air, thicker than the scent of the dead even. Maggie's face contorted. He looked to Carol – whom he had yet to speak to, but was greatly relieved to see. A knowing look passed over the older woman's face, who was staring at the dainty blonde attached to his arm. They _had_ been surviving together, and the two had always spoke. He figured that Beth had confided in Carol.

It didn't take him long to figure out how this was going to go.

"What? Beth I'm your sister, the least you could do is _talk_ to me!" Maggie wasn't okay, and Glenn noticed because Daryl saw the Asian man grab the eldest Greene siblings elbow.

Beth's face tightened. He could tell she was mad – he could close his eyes and picture her giving him the finger when she had been dead set on finding the group. She had been sure that they were looking for them; for _her_. There was no way in hell she was going to stay in that little camp and eat burnt snake with _him_ when Maggie could be looking for her.

" _It wouldn't kill you to have a little faith."_

Beth turned to Glenn instead, and he knew what was coming even before she opened her mouth. He knew that she had seen them all along, because hell there was one not a mile from here.

"I'm glad she found you, Glenn. The signs must have helped, yeah?"

Maggie's face darkened into a look of regret, a look of pure and utter guilt. Good, he thought. Everyone had written Beth Greene off as a weak little girl. One of the weak ones who had no real survival skills. Beth wasn't like Maggie, and because of that they had wrote her off. But Beth, he knew, was a hell of a lot stronger than Maggie herself.

Beth had faith.

Glenn had the decency to look upset, grabbing onto his wife who looked like she had all intentions of walking over to where Beth still stood, holding onto Daryl as if she would be taken away again. Hell he appreciated it because he was still stuck in his hindering thoughts that this could all be a dream.

"Don't you _dare –_ "Maggie began, only to be cut off.

"Don't _you_ dare, Maggie." Beth cut her off, releasing her grip from his arm. He could tell she was getting worked up, could tell she was about to snap. Beth wasn't the quiet little babysitter anymore that everyone had made her out to be at the prison. He knew all too well that her temper was now at the forefront of her personality; he knew how to see it and he knew her next move even before she did.

"While you had me wrote off as dead, I made Daryl traipse all around these woods for _you_! I wanted to find you and I wasn't going to stop until I _did_! I made him work his guts out to get us all back together, and you didn't even care. You didn't even _look_ for me."

Her voice was menacing and all eyes were now directed to the girl who would once never talk to anyone, let alone her sister this way. She was hurt, she was cut to the very bone by her sister actions. It was all very clear, to not just him anymore. But to everyone.

"I got _taken_ and _tortured_ because I was the one who made us vulnerable. All because I was trying to find my sister who had already forgotten about me."

Maggie's face blanched. It felt like all the air in his lungs had escaped and didn't plan on returning. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't get over the guilt that had plagued him since he had lost her. She had been _tortured_?

Then the rage set in. He couldn't control it, and he bit back the war cry that he knew would bring unwanted attention to them. He couldn't do that to baby Judith but _Christ_ , he needed to get the hell out of here for a minute. How could she possibly think this was _her_ fault? He was the one that had lost her. He had been the one to tell her to run. It was his fault.

His wild eyes found Rick's, who looked back at him with a warning eye. _This ain't about you, it's about her. Get yourself together._

"Beth," Maggie croaked out, angry sobs wracking her frame and her husband had to literally hold on her to keep her back from the blonde. Rick was standing beside them, making sure that no one would move towards the obvious seething songbird. He looked at Daryl and the hunter knew he had to do something. Needed to get them out of this situation.

"Save it," Beth replied curtly before he had a chance to take action, walking away from the cabin, from the group she had been desperately trying to reunite, and away from him.

All he could do was follow, feeling eyes on his retreating wings.

…

They walked through the thick overgrowth of the forest surrounding them for hours. The sun had moved considerably far in the sky before she had it in her to take a breather. She knew she wasn't alone, but yet she didn't look back. Didn't have to; knew who it was because he made no noise. Like the way she now moved through the woods. Had it not been him, she would have ran; would've ran and never looked back.

She had been stuck here in that cabin for about a month. She had cried in that cabin, she had yelled and screamed as loud as her lungs would let her. She had bled in that cabin, and the further she walked from it – the further she walked away from the group with _him,_ the more she was able to breathe. She was beginning to breathe again since she had been taken away from him.

She knew he was having his own internal struggles, and it took her a moment to collect herself before she turned to face him.

It broke her heart.

It broke all of her that was left to break, which wasn't much.

The look on his face had said it all, and she didn't need words. Throughout the months they had spent together, they had become accustomed to the looks and the facial expressions of one another. Even though she had tried back then to fill in some of the silence, it wasn't needed. Words were not needed with the bond that the two had, not remotely erased in the absence of each other.

He thought it was his fault.

She tugged him to her, and was relieved that he didn't protest. Warmed when he returned the action and slipped his arms around her as well. On the walk out here she had argued with herself if she was allowed to touch him or not. They hadn't been very touchy to begin with, but by the end he had allowed her to place a gentle hand on his elbow, had let her console him. She had spent her month locked away in that cabin wondering what could have been.

Much like he had back at the cabin, he sunk to the forest floor, taking her down with him. She cried then, letting herself _feel_. It was never hard to feel when Daryl Dixon was around, it seemed. She didn't sob, didn't make much noise at all. It was only because he had expert ears that she knew he would hear her.

It was quiet for so long that when he spoke it startled her.

"'M gonna find em," he grunted in his thick voice, thicker from the emotion he was holding below the surface. "Find em and rip em limb to limb."

Even through her tears she let out a strangled laugh. There was no humor to it, however. He could see her face, the horror residing there. It churned his insides, almost to a point of no return. Had she not been soundly in his arms, he wasn't sure what he would do. Dixon's were always act now, think later kind of people.

"Tyreese beat you to it," she revealed. "Him, Carol and Judith just showed up one day. Don't know how they found the cabin, didn't ask. They had him taken care of as soon as they realized it was me."

He didn't press her to continue, but he knew she would anyways.

"Some crazy guy, knocked me out before he got me in that car. Daryl I _tried_ to get back to you, I tried so hard – "

He cut her off by pushing her head back into his chest. He couldn't take it right now. There was a part of him that wondered if he would ever want to know the full story. "Ran all night. Most of the next day too. My fault, Beth, ain't on you."

She didn't dignify that with an answer.

"I thought about that day I made you leave that little camp you made, made you leave the rest of that _fucking_ snake behind." He raised his eyebrows. Granted the Beth Greene of the prison certainly did not curse, but the new, gone through hell and back Beth, did. "I prayed and I wished so many times that I could go back to that moment with you…" she trailed off.

He remembered the moment she was talking about, he did. He just wouldn't have assumed that it was such a monumental point in their survival together for her. He remembered the moonshine shack, the funeral home. He remembered carrying her through the fields on his back. The _serious_ piggybacks.

He didn't have time to respond, but then again he was never one for words.

"Every time I was being – "She gulped, shaking her head at the memories he knew she was trying to rid herself of. "I thought of you, you know. I think the memory of our time together got me through most of it."

" _Oh."_

He closed his eyes at her words. Closed his eyes at the fact that he had been doing the same thing – had been replaying their conversations in his head over and over again. He dreamed of her, dreamed of that car taking away the only good thing left in his life. Hell he hadn't had much, ever, and was used to life taking away everything dear to him. But Beth Greene wasn't one of them. She would always be something that was irreplaceable to him.

He needed her.

"Beth." He said her name, and she nodded her head; didn't need him to continue. He was relieved to have this back.

"I know," she said. "Me too, Daryl Dixon."

So they sat there on the forest floor in a heap of tangled limps and strangled tears. They didn't speak about her time in captivity, they didn't talk about his journey without her. Didn't talk about the group that was waiting back at the cabin for them. Because right now, arms wrapped around each other, they had all they needed to survive.

 **Thank you for reading, please leave all feedback, good or bad, in a comment.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I'm kind of excited that the ideas that have been swirling around in my head for so long are finally making an appearance. I have many ideas for this story, where I usually prefer to stick to oneshots – commitment isn't my thing. But I'm excited to see where this goes.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Two**

" _Me too, Daryl Dixon."_

They sat there until the sun was no longer in the sky. They sat there, unmoving and quiet, no other weapon around other than the faithful crossbow. It wouldn't be enough if things turned ugly, but it was enough right now because Beth Greene was back in his arms.

There weren't many walkers around these parts – of course there were the few stragglers here and there, but they were all becoming so decrepit that they were easily overrun. It was becoming less and less of an effort to take down the lone walker. Being that the living were becoming accustomed to their new lifestyle, or that the mushes of decay were becoming easier to puncture.

The ones that had straggled along had mostly been taken out by Terminus, but now that that place was no more, Daryl wasn't sure if they should be on high alert or not. He hadn't had the chance to talk to Rick, and he wasn't sure when he would have the time in the very near future. Something to keep in the back of his mind.

Her breathing was beginning to calm, and his leg that she was sitting on was growing tired of her weight, albeit there wasn't much weight left to her anymore. She had always been thin, but _fuck_ she was so much tinier than he remembered.

The night was quiet, and the moon and stars were bright, but he knew they couldn't stay here all night. Not without someone in the group coming after them.

"Can't stay here all night," he commented, his voice thick from the prolonged silence.

"I know," she nodded, but made no notion to move from where she was perched. His back was up against a wide tree, both her hands grasping one of his. She sat sideways to him, the side of her head pressed up against his collarbone, he had his chin tucked on her head. His right knee was bent, and when he wasn't holding onto her blonde locks, his arm rested on his knee. She sat in between his lap, both legs stretching over the one he had laid flat in front of him.

The position was intimate, but he knew that they were both caught up inside their heads. Both of them were caught up in what would be in store for them when they returned to the group. He could tell she was still smoldering at her older sister, hell she'd be crazy not to be. But there was something else different about her, something had changed her in the month she had been taken away from him.

The word _tortured_ rang in his head over and over and over again, like a gun that wouldn't stop firing. He didn't think that he would ever get the image of Beth yelling at her sister, revealing the one thing that he had begged not to happen. He had begged and wished and fuck, he had even _prayed_ for her to be out of harm's way.

"I just," she sighed, rubbing one of her hands over her face. "I just don't know how I'm supposed to act like I'm okay."

It angered him; he wasn't angry at her, he was angry that she was being put into this situation. "Don't then."

And Lord, when she turned to look at him like he held the answer to the world epidemic, he couldn't help but smirk back.

"Okay, I won't then." And as if it really would be that easy, she stood and helped him stand as well. But he noticed that the grip on his hand didn't falter, noticed that she looked a lot more nervous than she was putting on.

"Don't need to act for me," he reminded her, his voice sounding a little cold to even his own ears. He'd have to get better at this – he'd have to figure out how to get himself back to the place he was in before she was taken.

She looked at him, began walking. "I know."

The walk back was silent as they walked knuckle to knuckle, brushing each other's hand occasionally, like this was all just a dream. He noticed with relief that she did have a weapon on her, a knife hanging out of the belt of her dirty and worn jeans. It wasn't the knife he had given her, still had that in his bag along with the rest of her belongings before she was taken from him. Someday he'd give it all back, but he could tell that she wasn't quite ready.

Wasn't ready to relive that night.

He could tell that the closer they were getting to the cabin, the more uncomfortable she was becoming. He wanted to comment, he wanted to ask her if she was okay. But he knew she wasn't, and may not be okay for a while. So he kept his mouth shut, watched her closely in case he needed to step in.

"The guy who took me kept me here," she whispered. From afar the little wooden cabin was delightful – it looked like something out of a children's picture book. Where lots of fond memories would be made, or in this new apocalyptic world, a sanctuary. The kind of place that didn't bring up any bad memories. "Tyreese and Carol stayed, even when they found me there. It was safer for Judith, so I stayed because I was scared to be alone."

Someday she'd tell him the full story.

He listened, but he knew what she was saying even when she wasn't saying it.

"We ain't gotta go back in there," he told her. A little swell of pride forming in his chest as he realized she let out a relieved breath, nodding. Thanking him. Maybe he still knew her more than he thought.

"You want to sleep outside? You don't mind?" He could tell that behind her question, she was hesitant. He knew that sometimes he could be ornery, could snap at the smallest of things. But not at her, never at her. Not since that night they had burned down that moonshine shack and his oppressive past with it.

"Set up camp a bit up this ways," he pointed, pointing to a little spot far enough away from the cabin so that she could breathe. No need to torture her any longer, and tomorrow as soon as the sun appeared he was getting her out of here. With or without the group.

He could tell she relaxed a fraction, thankful that she wouldn't have to spend another night in or near the cabin.

As they rounded the corner, Daryl blew out one of the hunting whistles that he had taught everyone to use in their survival. He didn't need another graze from a bullet anytime soon, even if their time on the Greene farmhouse felt like it was in another lifetime.

"I don't want to talk to anyone tonight," Beth admitted to him, and as he looked at her features illuminated by the moon, he couldn't have said no even if he wanted to. She looked so crestfallen, so… so lost. He would have picked her up and ran back into the darkness of the woods again, if he could. He settled by steering her towards the pointed out spot.

"Here," he passed her his bag, the one that may as well have been attached to him by now. There would be strings of cans inside, two thin blankets that he had managed to keep all this time. It wasn't much but it would be all they would need for the time being. He knew that she would know what to do, how to set the camp up to his own satisfaction. "You set up camp, I gotta talk to Rick."

She took the bag from him eagerly, holding it to her chest as she looked up at him. Looked at him like he could move the fucking sun if he wanted to. It was almost too much for him to handle, his frazzled nerves were beginning to become short due to the emotional events of the day. "Thank you, Daryl. Really."

He nodded at her before he turned away, not keen on letting her out of his sight but also not able to take the weight of the pending conversation that stood in front of him any longer.

…

He knew even before he had sent Beth off to set up their camp that Rick was the one on watch. Knew it was late, knew he would be the only one to let them go about their business without interfering. Knew he owed the man at least a conversation.

The father of two didn't say anything, even when the younger man sat beside him on the step of the cabin.

" _She's just gone."_

He had to make himself push the panic back down inside of him – she was here. She was _alive._ She was only a few feet away in the darkness, the sounds of the cans clanging together reassuring him that she was still there.

Rick held a knife in his grip loosely, staring out into the surrounding perimeters. He nodded his acknowledgement that Daryl was sitting beside him, knew that if Daryl wanted to talk he would listen. That's why he was so fond of Rick – he didn't push him. He didn't push the emotional barriers that he had in place, didn't expect more of him than he was willing to give.

The silence pushed on, and Daryl was relieved when Rick finally opened his mouth. "She okay?"

He thought about the question for a minute. "Nah, she ain't."

Rick nodded. "Almost had to knock Maggie out."

And much like Rick had, Daryl nodded at the new piece of information. He knew that the man sitting beside him is the only reason that no one had come looking for the pair, knew that he had only Rick to thank for the few hours of peace they had had together. "Knew she'd be mad at 'er sister."

"I ain't commending Maggie. Shouldn't have forgotten about her sister." Rick turned to him then. "But next time I won't be able to stop her. Almost couldn't this time."

He knew that he meant he couldn't hold Maggie back from talking to her sister. It was something that was inevitable, something that was sure to happen – probably within the next few hours of the sun rising. He was just thankful that they had the time they did, but in true Dixon fashion, he had no idea how to express it. So he didn't.

"How's Lil Asskicker doing?"

Rick smiled, even though he noticed it was strained. "Not a scratch on her. Thought I lost her, thought I'd never see her again."

He looked to Daryl, his eyes holding a knowing look, and Daryl nodded with him. Rick wasn't the only one who had found someone that he thought was gone today.

"I can take watch," he grunted, tilting his head in the direction of the cabin where he could hear light snores and human movement from within.

"Nah," Rick shook his head, pointing his knife that still dangled loosely from his hand in the general direction of where he had sent Beth. "Shouldn't be out there by herself."

It didn't take any more convincing when he pushed himself off the step of the cabin.

…

By the time he made the short walk back to the spot he'd pointed out to Beth, she had the camp set up for the night. He looked on with keen eyes, pride for her swelling in his chest that she hadn't forgot. She had set up their camp the same as she would have if this was a month ago, and he was coming back from a hunt. As if nothing had happened.

Her eyes were trained on him instantly, and he could tell as he came closer that she relaxed, hand no longer reaching for the knife by the edge of the blanket once she recognized his features. Close enough to grab in moment's notice, but far enough away that she wouldn't roll on it in her sleep.

He hesitated only for a second before he threw the crossbow down in the same spot her knife would be on his own side. It was easy to let himself think that this was normal, that no one was waiting in the cabin for them, that she had always been beside him. Easy to forget that this was all new again.

"Hey," she whispered as he tucked himself in beside her. She had set up the makeshift bed like she usually would. The biggest blanket on bottom and the smaller, plusher one on top for them both to use. She was staring at the sky above her, the millions of twinkling lights illuminating her golden halo. And as he settled himself in, he took notice of the world surrounding them.

He grunted. "'T's late."

He wasn't ready to talk, wasn't ready to voice the thoughts running through his head. He didn't want to know her story just yet, didn't want to deal with the emotions that were bound to be intertwined with it.

She nodded, biting her lip. Didn't stop looking at them stars though. "I used to sit out here when it was just Carol, Tyreese and me. Could always tell one of them were keeping an eye on me. Feels nice to not be watched."

He almost snorted because he could barely take his eyes off of her. They laid in silence for a while longer, looking into the skies. And just when he had thought she fell asleep, she spoke once again.

"I'm gonna forget about it tomorrow," she started, and when he turned his head to look at her, her wide blue eyes were already trained on him. "It's not worth it to keep grudges, not in this world."

He nodded, knew from the very beginning that she wouldn't continue to be mad at the only real blood she had left now. Knew that the guilt would rot away at her until she caved; even when she had every right to be pissed off. When she would hug her sister tight tomorrow, forgiving her for giving up on her, it wouldn't be her showing weakness. It wouldn't be weakness at all; it would be the strongest thing that he would ever witness.

Because where she wasn't exactly the most physically adapt in the group, she was by far the strongest. She had the biggest heart, even if her light was evidently tinted for the time being.

"Could've told you that, girl," he said, his voice raspy from lack of use. His arm was underneath his head, diverting his eyes anywhere from the pools of blue that he could so easily get lost in forever. Then again, he thought, he could get lost in a lot worse places than Beth Greene.

She laughed, and it was such a nice sound he felt the corners of his lips tug.

She grabbed his hand then, the one that was closest to her and not under his head. The one that he usually threw over his eyes. She curled herself into his outstretched hand, pulling her knees up to where they were almost touching his arm. She cradled his hand in both of hers closer to her chest than he was comfortable with, sighing when she stopped fussing and closed her eyes. This was new, but he could do this for now.

"Goodnight, Daryl Dixon."

"Night, Greene."

 **TBC**

 **Thanks for reading and any feedback would be much appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Thanks so much to all who have reviewed. It's very much appreciated and makes writing this a lot easier. I hope you're enjoying.**

 **Chapter Three**

He was up the next morning a little before dawn.

His usual time.

No one had bothered them for watch, and he knew that it probably had something to do with Rick taking his turn for him. He'd have to make sure that he did the same tonight for the other man. No need of their leader being tired when they were more than a few of them capable of watch. Including him.

Usually when waking up, he'd pack his things up right away, sling the crossbow over his shoulder and go relieve himself. He never allowed himself to lie around until the sun showed over the canopy of the trees, never let himself relax when there was obvious work to be done.

But this morning, oh boy this morning was different.

The hand that she had clung to the night before had become his whole arm throughout the night. Her face was so much closer to his now, her chin tucked slightly in as her cheek rested on the outside of his shoulder. Both hands still clung to his, and he could already feel the clamminess of his palm. She had a death grip on him.

And all he could do was lie there.

Lie there like this wasn't new.

Like this wasn't crossing a boundary that he had set in place long ago. Like he didn't mind when people touched him, like he was fine with this level of personal comfort, touch.

A million thoughts ran through his head as he laid still, Beth Greene wrapped around his one arm like he would disappear again. Like she would be taken from him again.

People would soon start to shuffle around, he knew, and as the sun slowly ascended he was growing more and more uncomfortable with their position. He knew the tiny woman wrapped around his arm was fragile right now, knew that she was going to have a rough morning, what with the sister that had forgotten about her only a few feet away. His inner demons fought battles inside himself that he couldn't silence any more than he could silence Merle's voice in his head.

 _Get up._

 _Stay._

 _Get up, you asshole._

 _Stay where you are, you inconsiderate no good for nothing –_

She shifted, halting his internal turmoil, and _fuck_ when her blue eyes turned up to him, every thought about their compromising position was out the window. She sleepily smiled at him, pressing her cheek further into his shoulder.

It was all too much, all too real that she was here. With him. Again.

He noticed as soon as she realized where she was and what she was doing, because her eyes opened again and she jerked away, as if afraid he was going to reject her. Which was absolutely ridiculous, because he had just laid there for the past twenty minutes, letting her cling on to him when all he needed in this world right now was a piss.

"Uh, morning," she croaked sheepishly, and when she let go of his hand he could breathe again. Like he wasn't teetering into unknown territory, and his heart wasn't going to explode because he couldn't handle all the emotions she was making him feel.

"Mornin'," he nodded, clearing his throat, standing up and away from her and the makeshift bed where she was still sprawled out on. He watched as she pulled the blankets in around herself at the loss of his body heat.

She watched from under the blankets as he made quick work of stuffing the string of cans in his bag, taking everything out and putting it away again the way he wanted it. It was all so surreal to her – that they had fell back into the routine they had had since the fall of the prison, they had fell back into it just being _them_ even though there were now things that needed to be discussed, people waiting on them a few feet away.

But not yet, she wasn't ready for any of that yet.

She was content right where she was.

Of course, until he started pulling at the blanket she was cocooning herself in.

"Common, gotta get up," he nudged her boot with his, tugging the blanket a little more. He wasn't as rough around the edges as she had seen him be towards her before; how gruff he was towards her when they had got out together. He was being gentle with her, tugging playfully on the blankets more than anything.

She groaned, tucking her feet back up into herself. The blankets smelled of him, her arms that had been stuck to him all night still tingled, and she wasn't ready to let the cold air hit her skin yet. "I don't want to."

He snorted, and she had to bite her lip to contain the smile that was threatening to make an appearance.

…

The happy feelings of the early morning wake up were quickly extinguished. Were gone as soon as she rolled over and saw that damn cabin, almost glowing in the rising sun.

They had made their way over to the group that was slowing rising as well; staying close, but there was no communication needed when they walked in separate directions when they reached them. Beth had plopped down next to Glenn, offering her hand to him. He took it too, glancing up at the blonde.

Glenn's eyes trailed to Maggie, who had cried against his chest until she had fallen asleep in the wee hours of the morning. He had tried to comfort her, but there was only so much he could do. The sister she thought was dead was suddenly _alive_ , back in their lives for only a few minutes, before she was torn away again. Before she belittled her older sister, yelled at her to _shut her mouth_ because they hadn't looked for her.

The guilt Glenn felt towards his sister-in-law was substantial. Didn't know if she would ever forgive him, or her sister that he loved so much, ever again.

Beth's nerves were shot, keeping a close eye on the emotions so obviously playing across the face of her brother-in-law. Followed her own eyes to look at her sister, who although asleep, looked stricken.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking at him. She didn't move her hand away from him, wanted him to know that this was her way of trying to make this better. "I shouldn't have lost it on her yesterday."

Glenn shrugged, looking down. Hand grasping hers tighter.

Beth sighed. "I'm glad she found you, Glenn."

He looked up at her soft voice, no harshness to it – no hidden hatred. Nothing like the anger that plagued her yesterday at the insinuation. Genuine. "I'm glad you're back too, Beth. Maggie is sorry, you know. She didn't –"

Beth cut him off with a shake of her head. No one could tell her otherwise that her sister's actions hadn't hurt her, no one had the ability to do that but herself. And she was hurt. But she was willing to look over it – willing to put everything that had happened behind her. This was just the first step.

"It's over with, Glenn. When she wakes up, I'm going to hug her and this is going to be forgotten about." She was trying to be sure of herself, trying to be a good person. Her eyes searched clear across the camp, looking.

Searching.

Until she found what she was looking for, and he offered a small nod as he caught her eye.

…

Daryl stood beside Michonne as the men around him argued. Arguing about what to do, where to go, whether DC was their best option now that Judith was once again a contributing factor. It was getting cold; no one wanted a repeat of their first winter on the road. It had been rough, it had almost been their undoing and no one wanted to do that with an infant.

Rick was looking at the cabin, looking to the spot that his daughter had been safe in for all this time, and Daryl knew the thoughts running through his head.

Abraham's face was getting closer to the shade of his hair before Daryl decided he'd had enough.

"Ain't staying here," he revealed, looking to Rick. It was final, there was no questioning to be done. That was what he was doing, he was getting her out of here and everyone around them knew it.

Michonne gave him a knowing look, nodding her head with him. "I agree. I think we should get as far away from Terminus as we can before winter hits."

"Finally!" Abraham ruffed, slamming his fist on his thigh. "Someone's talkin' some sense."

So it was decided that they would continue their search for the cure, which Abraham was so keen on. Says the odd scientist he was protecting, Eugene, was going to solve this. That the world epidemic would be over as soon as they figured out a way to get to the capital.

Daryl thought it was a crock of shit, but he didn't say as much as the little group had dispersed. Didn't say as much until Rick and him were the only ones left standing together, and the question was thrown at him.

He snorted, and it was as much of an answer as Rick needed.

"Me either."

Daryl rubbed his thumb over his lips. He would follow Rick until he couldn't no more, and the former deputy understood this. But it was one thing trying to find a safe sanctuary, and possibly walking into their doomsday. The events at Terminus were still fresh in the minds of everyone.

"I get it," he said, looking to Daryl. "Need to get her away from here. But I'm not exactly on board for the trip to DC yet."

Daryl shrugged, a little embarrassed that it was apparently common knowledge that Beth was the moving force behind his motives. "Me either."

Rick nodded. "Alright. We'll move on anyways, try to find somewhere to spend the winter. We're not walking into DC blind."

And as the two of them walked back to where the group was packing up and getting ready to move on per Abraham's instructions, he couldn't agree more.

…

She was still clutching Glenn's hand as Maggie's eyes opened blearily. In the back of her mind, she remembered her Mama coming in to wake them up, back when they were little and shared a room. Back before Shawn had left the farm. The Greene sisters weren't morning people, and Annette used to chuckle and say _"Rise and shine, my little angels!"_ before opening the blinds to let the sun hit their faces.

She'd give just about anything she had, which wasn't much, to be able to go back to that.

She looked on as her sister recognized her sitting beside her husband, rubbing a hand over her face before biting her lip. Beth could tell Maggie didn't know if she was welcome or not. Which wasn't far from the truth a few hours ago.

So, like she had done to Glenn, Beth outstretched a hand to her sister, who scrambled out of her sleeping bag to grab it. Tears shone in Maggie's eyes, and Beth realized that she was shedding a few of her own.

This is how the sibling reunion should have went, she thought, as her older sister plunked her boney butt down on the other side of her.

"Oh Bethy," Maggie said in a wobbly voice. She gripped Beth's hand tightly. "I'm so sorry."

There is was, Beth thought. That's all she needed, as she pulled her sister into a soft embrace.

When she pulled back, Maggie looked at her from an arm's length. Really looked at her, and it made Beth squirm under the gaze. She looked down, uncomfortable.

That is, until a pair of familiar boots came into her line of vision.

Before Beth really had time to act, Maggie was standing, shoulders square to the ornery redneck. Even Daryl looked oddly confused as the eldest Greene sister placed a tentative hand on his shoulder.

Beth watched the scene unfold in front of her, could tell that Daryl was just as uncomfortable with the gaze as she had been. He jerked away as she put a hand up to him, but even surprised himself when he allowed her to lay a soft hand to his shoulder.

"Thanks for not giving up on my sister," Maggie said. She looked back to Glenn, who stood as he must have gotten the silent communication from her. They both walked a little ways into the wood, and Daryl thought he could see Maggie's shoulders sag with wracking sobs until she disappeared behind a tree, her husband following her easily.

He looked down to Beth then, taking in her disheveled look. By the sounds of that, it had gone pretty well. Sitting beside her, minding not to get too close with many prying eyes around, he regarded her.

"You okay?"

She breathed in a shaky breathe, swallowing loudly. Her eyes met his, and for a second he forgot that it wasn't just them when she grabbed his hand and he didn't flinch away. Didn't even think about moving away from her.

"I'm more okay than I have been in awhile, Daryl Dixon."

…

The news of the plan to move forward was not taken lightly.

Some of them had protested, and the one who had been the most adamant about staying was Carol. Tyreese backed her up on it too, because they had been safe right where they were for so long that it didn't make sense to go back on the road.

Carol had looked at Daryl, pleading with him to agree with her, and he felt a little bad when a flash of betrayal was noticeable in her eyes. She quickly moved on to someone else, though, someone else who would agree with her.

The more they fought about it, the more Beth just couldn't take it.

Her fight or flight instinct was making her breathing heavy, and she had to get out of here. She just _had_ to. There was no way anyone was making her stay another night at the place she had been held captive for a month.

No one knew what she had gone through, besides maybe Carol. And the sting of the elder woman wanting to stay, well, _stung_.

No one noticed her slip away, even Daryl was preoccupied trying to theoretically push the vein back in on Rick's neck that was starting to make an appearance. Their leader was torn, she knew. He had his baby to think about, he had everyone standing in front of him waiting for him to make a decision.

Beth couldn't blame Daryl for not noticing.

She was quiet as she walked through the thick overgrowth. She knew these woods now, knew them almost as much as she had known the woods back at the farm. For different reasons, of course. She knew these woods because as soon as Carol and Tyreese had cut the ties from around her wrists and ankles, she had taken off.

They had tried to look for her, heard their softs calls for her, but Beth had known back then that Carol and Tyreese had a mission to take care of Judith – not her. And it hadn't been over an hour before they retreated to the cabin she had no intentions of stepping foot into again.

She had slept in a tree that night, body aching and keening as she moved her sore legs open further to inspect herself.

The thought sent a shiver down her spine, she didn't like reminding herself what that first night had been like.

She'd made her way to the spoken of tree in no time at all; it wasn't all that far from where she could still hear the group fight over what they were going to do – what their next move would be. And it also didn't surprise her that she heard the familiar shuffling of the dead coming towards her, either.

No wonder, she thought as she stood, those guys were _loud_. Of course the dead would hear them.

She stood, her back to the tree she had come to like over her time here. Looking on as the corpse smelled her, heard her stand up. Watched it stumble its way over to her. Would've been pretty before, probably, as she took in the rotting thing in front of her.

It was once a woman, one who had long blonde hair, much like herself. Though the clothes still hanging to its frame were long passed decent, Beth could tell that they had once been beautiful and well planned. A business woman.

And now here she was, dead, and then undead, snarling its way towards the obviously needed food. And the food happened to be her.

She unsheathed her knife, the one Carol had lent to her when she had stumbled back to that cabin a week later, refusing to enter but not exactly wanting to go it on her own. Carol had been motherly, had taken her in her arms when Beth allowed her to. She'd rubbed her back, soothed down her hair and asked if there was anything that she could do.

The one Daryl had given to her had been taken away, and she wasn't too sure where it was. Wasn't about to go back into that damn cabin and look for it, so she accepted it graciously. Since then had made a few kills with it, and was about to make another.

Raising her arm as the walker stumbled close enough, she was about to swing forward with a force when she didn't.

Didn't have to, to be more precise.

The arrow that flew through the eye of the walker had been enough to know who had come out after her.

The voice accompanied by it, however, was harsh. "What the _fuck_ are you doing?"

So harsh that she flinched.

He noticed, let his anger flush away to nothing. Hers did nothing but swell.

"I ain't staying here!" She yelled, her voice raising octaves that she knew could be potentially dangerous. "You can't make me."

It hurt him a little, down deep where he tried to stay away from. Made his anger come back at the forefront. Not at her, but at what she'd been put through. Everything that he couldn't protect her from. There was a lot that was unsaid between them, a lot of territory that was uncharted. But he hoped that underneath this new layer of Beth Greene, she knew he wasn't going to make her do anything she didn't want to.

 **TBC**

 **Thanks for reading, and reviews are much appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the support! Would love to write back to every single one of you, but unfortunately I've been much too busy and it looks like my schedule is going continue to expand. I'm trying weekly posts, but it could be a bit longer in the near future. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Four**

" _You can't make me."_

She knew as soon as she said it, that it was the wrong thing to say to him. Knew it was all kinds of bad, knew the demons of his past that he had escaped. The demons that she had _helped_ him escape, and now she had thrown them back in his face as if they were nothing.

Here she was attacking the only person who had, to be frank, gave a shit about her whereabouts for the past month. Knew that he was fighting to get her out of here more than anyone.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, tears springing to her eyes. Oh man she was losing it, and if she didn't catch a hold of herself she might just lose him, too.

Again.

She watched as he kicked the dead walker away from them, even if they were becoming accustomed to the stagnant smell of death. Watched as he shouldered his crossbow again, every move he made well practiced and precise. She had expected him to walk away, back to the group.

But he didn't.

He sat in front of her, his back leaning into a smaller tree in front of her. There was a distance between them, but if she reached out far enough she could most likely reach his outstretched boot. They had sat like this many times when they were on the road, facing each other. They could watch each other's backs that way; it worked.

Only when he was settled did he speak. "Wasn't tryin' to make you do nothin'."

Her voice was small, lost. Upset she let herself succumb to her anger. Thankful he has stayed. "I know."

The Beth Greene that he knew wasn't like this. She wasn't withdrawn, wasn't scared of him when he raised his voice a little too loud. The woman sitting in front of him was someone completely different than she had been. Under obvious circumstances. He'd have to change to accommodate that, change even though it was terrifying.

He'd do it for her.

Because he was slowly realizing, evident of the month spent apart, that Beth Greene was becoming his reason to _live_.

He snuck glances at her from underneath his hair, watching the turmoil run throughout her. He knew the feeling – knew what it felt like to have all your rights stripped away from you. He knew to some level exactly what she was going through and he didn't know how to make it better.

Probably couldn't.

Make it better, that is.

He looked to the sun, noticed it must be getting close to the time Judith would wake up, according to Carol. And then the group would be on their way. Maybe getting her away from here would help, maybe it wouldn't.

But it was a chance he was more than willing to take.

…

The more distance she put between herself and that cabin, the better she slowly began to feel. She knew she was far from being fine again, was coming to the conclusion that she never would be, but it was something.

It was also something that Daryl walked quietly beside her, behind the rest of the group.

It hadn't gone unnoticed, not by a long shot. Everyone had raised eyebrows when the hunter didn't stalk to the front of the group, leaving Rick to lead along with Michonne. But no one asked. Even Maggie knew better than to question it, as she herself trotted beside Rosita and Glenn.

Since the explosive reunion, the group didn't push her.

Carol, holding Judith was only a few steps ahead of them, and Beth smiled softly as the small girl kept looking behind at them, smiling her gummy smile. Tyreese was beside them, wielding his weapon of choice.

And once Beth smiled back at Judith that was it. The little girl stuck her arms out behind Carol, telling Beth in baby language that she wanted to be taken. She watched as Carol slowed, noticed who and where the baby wanted to go to, before turning around.

"Oh Judy," Carol sighed, patting the child's back. Daryl noticed she looked sad, and he was confused about the whole situation. Why was it bad that his Lil' Asskicker wanted to go to Beth? Christ, Beth had basically been her surrogate mother after Lori. Beth was the one who had gone back for the baby at the fall of the prison, before he had grabbed her arm and hauled her off after him exclaiming she was crazy.

Looked to Beth, understood.

She looked sad, sighing as Carol passed Judith over to Tyreese before continuing. The baby easily adapted, finding comfort in her knew companion, temporarily forgetting what she had wanted only seconds ago in typical baby fashion.

He wanted to ask, but she beat him to it.

"I haven't held her since they found me," she revealed, quietly and only to him. In reality, she hadn't seen much of Judith since her bittersweet reunion with Carol and Tyreese. She opted to sleep outside on the porch, even when it began to grow colder. Opted to spend most of her days in the woods, straying off but always circling the cabin. The feeling of being trapped within those four walls again was just too much, even if it was on her own time, and that's where the baby had stayed most of their time there.

She didn't tell him as much, but she knew that he figured it out already.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to beat his knuckles bloody, he wanted to kick anything that was in sight but he held off. Held off because he didn't want to scare her, didn't want to say or do something that would have her crawling back into herself like she had that morning.

She had walked off when he was arguing and listening to the group, and when he noticed that she was gone he had almost had a heart attack. Had wondered if everything about her being here was all one big dream.

He struggled with that. Struggled with the thought that he would wake up in that fucking boxcar back at Terminus, only to have all this taken away from him again.

Beth, the one who had been determined that they were all still alive, that the two of them were going to someday find _everyone_. That she would hug her sister close, pull Glenn into the embrace, and Judith. She wanted to grab Judith and never let her go again.

At least, that's what she had told him back then.

Back before someone took her from him, and stripped her of her light.

And now she couldn't even hold the little girl. He could tell she was scared, scared of not being the Beth who had cared for the little girl at the prison – for most of her life. He could tell by the way her eyes widened that she was afraid Judith wouldn't know the new Beth that didn't sing, hardly spoke. He needed to fix this, and when the baby looked over Tyreese's shoulder for the third time, he sprang into action, unloading his crossbow and shouldering it.

"C'mere," he said, holding out his arms to the little girl who squealed in appreciation. Tyreese didn't protest at handing her off once the other man realized what Daryl was doing. Judith gurgled happily in the arms of someone new, sucking on her own fist contentedly.

He had missed this little girl, but he knew someone else who had missed her even more.

Beth watched on with interest as Daryl cradled the little one in his arms, her heart aching at the scene unfolding in front of her. Here was this surely, gruff man holding onto the little pink bundle, once again walking beside her.

She knew what he was doing, and she was beyond grateful.

When Judith settled on Daryl's shoulder, she looked down to Beth. Her fist was still hanging lazily in her mouth, and Beth made a mental note to see if they couldn't find the girl a teething ring, something that wasn't her own fist. The teeth that were bound to show soon would hurt her tiny little hand.

The baby watched her with fascination, her little head dropping to rest on Daryl's chest. It was probably the most adorable thing she had seen in a long time.

Daryl watched with alert eyes as Beth raised a hand to the baby, brushing the back of her fingertips softly across the baby's cheek. Judith huffed, grabbing Beth's hand before she had time to move it away, and he watched as Beth's face crumbled.

Carol watched in silent amazement. Daryl was helping Beth effortlessly, in a few minutes, something that she had been trying to do since she found the blonde girl, tattered and broken in that cabin. It struck her that there was more to this friendship than maybe the two were putting on. She smiled up at Tyreese, who looked at her with knowing eyes.

"Can…" Beth trialed off, biting her lip. Judith was making it known that she was no longer content in the arms of the hunter, leaning over his arm towards the small blonde. "I can take her?"

She made it sound more like an offer, than a question, and he knew what she was doing. But he nodded, watching her face as she held Judith close to her chest, closing her eyes as the baby snuggled into her as if they had never been separated.

And when Beth opened her teary eyes and looked at him, he was memorized.

"Thank you, Daryl."

He knew he'd do just about anything to hear that every day for the rest of his life.

…

The walk was much more comfortable with Judith in Beth's arms, the baby not making much noise at all that would attract walkers out of the surrounding woods. They had been pretty fortunate at the sense of walkers around here. There were hardly any, and it was a little unnerving. As they had learned before, little to no walkers usually meant that there was a herd circling close around.

Beth had seemed more relaxed than he had expected of her the whole walk. She held Judith close, making sure the baby was perfectly angled, perfectly covered. It wasn't hard to see why Rick and everyone else had often forgotten that her permanent job back at the prison wasn't taking care of the child.

She was a natural.

They were all quiet, they had to be. And because of that, Beth thrived. But when the walk finally came to a halt, he couldn't say he was sad.

She hesitantly brushed her hand with his, something that he was becoming used to, and then stalked off carrying the sleeping baby over to where her sister sat on a concrete barrier. They were standing at the beginning of a long, to what he assumed by the looks of it, driveway.

He stalked off to Rick, who in turns pointed to Glenn, Michonne and him, putting a finger up to his lips as a way to say keep quiet. He started walking up the driveway and the ones pointed out followed with no hesitation.

…

Beth still had a lot of catching up to do with her sister, even if the blow up at their reunion was still fresh.

They sat side by side in silence, the baby still lying peacefully on her chest didn't stir. For once in her life, Maggie had sensed that Beth wasn't ready to talk yet, however, and the older girl didn't push her, and for that Beth was grateful.

First time for everything, she had thought miserably.

She was still reeling at Daryl, and how he had gone out of his way for her. She had come to realize, before the group found them that she would never have the luxury to care for the little girl again. And she had accepted it. Even when Carol offered, she refused. She had pushed away human contact, felt disgusted by herself. This beautiful, perfect baby did not need someone as used and washed up as herself taking care of her.

And yet here she was clutching to the baby with everything she had in her, all because of _him_. He'd made it seem easy – let her make her own decision instead of asking her to do so.

Patient. Which certainly wasn't a word that she would have used to describe Daryl Dixon before this.

Maggie smiled as the child shifted, snuggling in deeper to her little sister's embrace. She had overheard Carol telling Rick that the baby hadn't slept as sound as she was at the very moment; and it was easy to see why.

For everyone but Beth.

"What do you think is at the end of the road?" Maggie asked her softly, making note of the way Beth's eyes darted around at the question. Maggie didn't want to push it; push _her_. But she couldn't help it, couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore. The sister that she had thought was dead was sitting right beside her, and she wanted to make it up to her little sister. Had to.

Beth shrugged. "Probably some house that's already been looted."

Maggie looked down. She used to play this game with Beth that first winter they were on the road. It had been a game they invented to make themselves feel _normal_ again. Like this was just a road trip and they were trying to determine what would be the final destination. A paradise.

Except in this new world, there were no paradises. There was no end, no end of the journey they were on in sight. It was a continuous cycle of fight or flight, do or die, kill or be killed.

And Maggie had always known that, she did.

But Beth, her sweet little sister Bethy, used to be able to come up with elaborate stories, come up with magical fantasies that would have the whole group smiling. Hoping, wishing, and praying that maybe someday Beth Greene would be correct.

She never was.

And now, the light that had once shone out of her, was gone.

Beth knew what her sister was doing, but she just didn't have it in her to play along. She remembered the childish game that the sisters had invented, had played because they liked to remind themselves of all the places their parents had drug them to as children. How Hershel and Annette would wrangle the three of them in the vehicle a few times a summer when the work on the farm was light, keeping their lips sealed on their destination.

Beth had been young, too young to figure out where they were going by road signs or maps, but Shawn and Maggie had made up for it, enlightening and including her, always. And when Maggie opened her mouth, Beth already knew what was coming, clinging to the little girl to ground herself.

"Remember that time that you were the only one to figure out where we were going?" Maggie asked, looking at the ground but Beth could tell by the faraway look that her sister was elsewhere. "You weren't even old enough to read and somehow, you were the first one to figure out Daddy was takin' us to the beach."

Images flashed before Beth's eyes, of the old mustard coloured station wagon that had once been a constant on the Greene farm. She could picture it from the inside, sitting behind her father in a strapped in car seat, diagonal to her mother so she could easily reach and tend to the baby of the family. Maggie sat beside her, and Shawn always sprawled out on the bench seat in the back.

She remembered being old enough to speak, but not old enough to be able to read more than simple children's books, not able to understand what everyone else around her could due to the age difference.

But as soon as Beth saw that seagull, she knew where they were going, and she had shrieked because it was possibly her most favorite spot in the whole world. Shawn liked rollercoasters and rides, adrenaline. Maggie liked fairs, booths that were lined up for miles whenever the circus came to town. But Beth, Beth liked the beach.

Her daddy would always make sure to make one trip a year to the beach for his little junebug.

Beth stood, cradling Judith's head.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Maggie."

She saw the hurt flash through her sister's eyes, not being able to find the strength to console the older of the two. Beaches and family trips were no longer a part of their lives – hell they didn't even _have_ a family anymore.

Turning, her breathe caught in her throat as she made eye contact with Daryl, making his way over towards the both of them, obviously overhearing the conversation. Upon his approach, he held his arms out for her to place the baby in, in which she did. Her arms were growing tired, and it always struck her as remarkable that he knew her needs even before she did herself.

But the look in his eye was guarded, not breaking his gaze at her. Took a step back, Judith now slowly waking as her caregiver switched. And when he spoke in his gravelly voice, he had her sitting back beside her sister, _trying_.

"Matters. _"_

Her own voice rang throughout her head. _"It does matter, Daryl."_

 **TBC**

 **Please stay tuned and any feedback would be appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: A little disappointed in lack of reviews, but I continue on regardless. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Five**

Turns out she had been wrong.

As Rick made his way over to the bunch, easily taking the daughter that reached out for him, he nodded. "Small convenient store." Rick stated, looking upwards to the sun that was slowly diminishing in the sky. "Enough food. Good a place as any to set up camp for the night."

Daryl had went to check out the new location with Rick, and since he seemed at ease with it, Beth rose from her spot on the concrete barrier beside her sister. The rest of the walk was quiet, and Beth could tell that her sister was still stuck somewhere where family beach trips still existed.

" _AH!" A 3 year old Beth shrieked in joy, blonde curls bouncing around in her excitement at seeing the white seabird. "Beach, beach!"_

 _Her father caught his little girl's eyes in the rearview mirror, blue eyes twinkling. Her mother laughed beside him, turning around to face their daughter._

" _You win this time my little angel," her mother cooed, reaching back to playfully tickle the little girls dangling feet. She reacted, another fit of giggles escaping her._

"Beth?"

She came back to reality with a jerk.

Looking sharply to Carl who had spoken up softly, calling her name when he realized that the blonde wasn't here. Daryl was watching her, Maggie was watching her. All had looks of confusion on their faces, but all Beth could see was the walking corpse of her dead and raised again mother, the falling sun glinting off Michonne's katana brought her back to watching her father's beheading.

Oh boy she was losing it. She quickly took in her surroundings. The 'convenient' store looked anything but.

"What?" she asked, but relaxed a fraction as Carl smiled.

"You want jerky or beans?" Carl held both out towards her, and her stomach lurched at the thought of food.

"Uh, no thanks," she all but whispered, ignoring the looks of confusion pass over the few that were still around, watching Carl retract his arms with a downwards look. They hadn't eaten since leaving that morning, and the old Beth cried out inside her, begging her to turn back to Carl and take whatever he was trying to give her. Make his smile come back instead of the ever present frown. But she couldn't.

The old Beth was gone, lost.

She stalked off, watching as the rest of the group filed in the store that had been cleaned out. She had overheard Rick saying that the high grounds they were currently on most likely had something to do with the lack of walkers. It made sense, at least to her, the things weren't exactly intelligent or steadfast.

But there was something about being contained inside that made her skin crawl.

Had this been a month ago, she would have been in the little store with everyone else, scavenging what they could find. She had liked it – scavenging. Liked the possibility that she may find something that would be useful to someone in their group. Now, though, she didn't bother.

Couldn't, really.

Every time she thought about stepping foot into a structure that had the ability to be closed off, she felt her lungs ache, felt her skin clam up, saw the edges of her vision blur. Knew it was stupid, knew that she would eventually have to get over her silliness in order to continue surviving.

" _I made it."_

She pushed her thoughts away as she took her pack off, bending cautiously down so she could start unpacking for the night's stay. Once again, much like it had been back when they were together, the lines of whose stuff was whose blurred. That morning back at the cabin she had put the blankets he had once carried into her own pack, and he hadn't said a word.

She was grateful, too, because right now all the wanted to do was crawl into the blankets that smelled of him and never come out.

…

Once the convenient store was looted and they had everything useful they could carry on their backs, he had offered up for first watch. He could tell everyone around him was passed exhausted from walking all day, but he welcomed it. Welcomed it because when he was dog tired he could sometimes shut his brain off. Could sometimes tell Merle to shut up and he would listen.

But as he watched the blonde cocooning herself in the blankets she had taken from him, he knew it was an aloof thought.

He had spent the long walk thinking about who she now was, tried to figure out how this new person would fit into this world. She was much more hardened, much quicker to be realistic rather than the thoughtful and hopeful one he had lost.

A woman who was evidently broken.

He hadn't been out there for long when he heard and felt someone sitting beside him; he didn't have to move his head because he knew who it was without looking. Even though their friendship had been strong throughout the course of the farm and prison, he felt oddly detached from Carol now.

Had actually been avoiding her.

He knew that she would understand his reasoning's, knew that he wouldn't have to explain to the older woman that he hadn't been avoiding her because he didn't want to see her, but because he didn't know if he could handle what she mostly had to say about Beth.

Because even facing away from her, he could tell it was coming.

"I see you've made a close friend," Carol starts, her voice urging him to face her. He could tell by her motherly tone that she wasn't going to leave well enough alone.

He grunted, taking out his third last cigarette, giving her a side glance. It was all she needed to know that she had his attention. Carol, much like Beth, knew him.

"Be easy on her, Pookie," Carol teased with the nickname she knew he hated. The woman missed her friend, but knew that now wasn't the time to be playful with him. With no reaction from him her features turned serious again, he felt his heart thump hard. His pulse was in his throat. "She's been through a lot."

"She tell you anything?" He asked, inhaling the dry and aged nicotine like it was his saving grace. He had meant to talk to Carol alone before now, find out what she knew so he could take the precautionary steps towards helping Beth have the light back in her eyes.

Because it was becoming obvious that he'd do anything.

Carol looked closely at him for a moment. "No, she told me she didn't want to talk about any of it. Took off running as soon as we cut her loose. We spent hours looking for her, she ran off without anything for a week."

 _Fuck_ , he thought. Took another drag off his cigarette to keep his bubbling anger below the surface.

"When," she began, and he tried to mentally prepare himself as much as he could, tried to steel his emotions even as they were beginning to take control. "When we found her…"

Carol trailed off, and he flicked his cigarette butt away in front of them, making quick work of lighting up another. Only had one left. Tried desperately to push away all his thoughts, pushed away all the mental images that he wasn't okay with.

"Well, Daryl," Carol sighed, looking him in the eye for the first time since she had sat beside him. "It wasn't human."

He flinched.

The world began to spin.

He couldn't hear any more of it, and Carol sensed that, kept her mouth firmly shut.

He sat there a long time, far longer than Carol did. He vaguely heard her bid him a goodnight, turning quietly back to the storefront that he could now hear light snores come from behind him. However, his eyes didn't move an inch from the bundle of blanket on the ground.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, but when he stood his joints ached.

Made his way over to where she was sleeping quietly, unpacking and setting up the can and string system effortlessly and without noise. She didn't even budge when he placed a can down by her head; she was out cold and oblivious when the long anticipated tears fell.

…

She woke with the cans on string system surrounding her, a can of unopened peaches sitting beside the knife by her head. She blinked her bleary eyes open fully, taking in the forest that she faced while sitting up, the storefront to her back. The sky had changed from dusk to dark, and she wondered how long she had been out.

Turning around, searching.

Coming up empty.

She tugged the blanket around herself more firmly at his absence, winter was coming quick. It was getting too cold to sleep outside, but she pushed the thought away because it once again had her skin prickled in panic. The blanket touched her cheek and she breathed in deeply, it smelled like _him_.

Comfort.

Rolling the can of peaches in her hands, she let her lips curve. Peaches were her favorite, and she wasn't sure if she had told him that or if he had just picked up on it. The grumbling in her stomach had her jimmying the can open quickly, closing her eyes in contentment as she plopped the first slick halve into her mouth all at once. Usually whenever she came across a can she would savor it, take her time and make it last. Share the delicious rarity.

Not this time.

She finished off the whole can before she even took in the rest of her surroundings, drinking the syrupy juice at the bottom of the can quickly and defiantly. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a whole can of food to herself, let alone her favorite food that was left in this world.

Wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her new, fairly clean sweater that Maggie had given to her, she turned to look at the store.

Could tell it was him by the glow of his cigarette.

She kept the blanket that smelled of him firmly wrapped around herself as she stood, making the short distance between them no longer exist. She sat softly beside him, spreading some of the blanket over his jean clad legs. She could tell he wanted to protest, but didn't.

"Thanks for the peaches," and she meant it too.

He grunted one of his famous grunts, the ones she had become accustomed to and could tell the meanings behind each different one. This one was the 'I don't take thank yous well'. She didn't comment, allowing him to figure out the words that she could see swirling around in his head.

"Ya didn't eat."

She shrugged, smiling softly at him. "The last few days have been pretty stressful."

He nodded, their form of nonverbal communication was something he both appreciated and hated. Hated himself because he could never figure out what to say to her, appreciated that she didn't leave when he was unable to say anything.

"Daryl," she asked, and he had to force himself to look at her. The conversation with Carol was still fresh in his mind, he was not done torturing himself with the images the older woman had embedding into his head. "I really missed you, when I was gone."

" _You're going to miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon."_

Here she was, broken and beautiful, somehow still looking up at him like he could make the world spin. Like he was some sort of hero, when all he was, was some old redneck pervert that didn't even deserve to be on the same planet as sweet, perfect Beth Greene. He couldn't even save her, let her slip through his fingers when it had matter most. Let her go through all that hurt and pain.

She watched the emotions playing on his face, her heart broke into even tinier pieces for him. Boldly reached for his face, knowing rejection would be her undoing. Wasn't rejected. She pushed his long dark bang out of his face, looking clearly into his eyes for the first time since their reunion; perhaps the first time ever.

He felt her move closer to him, let her lift his arm so she could get even closer.

"Me too," he revealed when she was settled against him. Even back before she had been taken, they had never been _this_ close. They never went out of their way to get into compromising positions like this, she had never tried. Never tried because back then he wouldn't have accepted it.

Hell, he was having trouble accepting it now.

Personal touch wasn't something he would usually welcome. Until meeting the petite blonde that seemed to wrap herself around him with ease, physical contact was associated with pain. But now he was having thoughts cross his mind that hadn't since he'd been a teenager.

Holy _fuck_ this is too much.

Yet, he stayed put.

Her heart was hammering in her chest as she slid closer to him. She hadn't been this physically close to someone since the fall of the prison, despite the frequent hugs from the group as of late. She made sure to keep his eye contact, keep herself grounded because it was _him_.

She didn't want to shy away from his touch, even if her flight instinct was taking over as images of her month back in that cabin rushed through her vision. He wasn't anything like that monster that took her. Wasn't going to take advantage of her.

She almost laughed out loud at the thought as he diverted his eyes, looking down. She basically had to claw whatever she wanted out of Daryl.

"Daryl," she said firmly. She was trying to keep a grip on reality. "Please look at me."

When he looked up at her, her world stopped. There was no pain, there was no hurt for the time being. Just them. Leaning in softly, she gauged his reaction as she inched closer to him. Much like herself, he was subject to his flight instinct taking over and she didn't want that to happen.

She gripped the labels of his winged jacket.

Watched his eyes become saucers.

He knew what she was doing, could feel her warm breath hit his chin as she inched her way closer to him. He tried, he really did, to pull away. To stop this before it started, because nothing good could come from this. Romance wasn't a thing in this new world, and hell he didn't know squat about it in the first place.

His mind was racing.

She had butterflies the size of fighter jets, she was sure.

But as her lips finally touched his, if only for a brief second, everything changed.

 **TBC**

 **A little more Bethyl action here. Thanks for reading and please feel free to give some feedback.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Thank you to all who have reviewed – I was starting to think no one was reading and enjoying. There's still lots more to come for this world, in which I have become a little obsessed with.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Six**

Glenn ran down the hill from the back of the convenient store where he had been on watch, and as soon as Daryl saw his face he looked from side to side, panic seizing him as he didn't see blonde hair anywhere in sight.

"Herd! Go, go, go!" Glenn yelled to everyone near and far as they began packing up what they could grab before the first set of walkers stumbled into his peripheral vision.

The air was filled with fear as everyone scrambled.

The groans were getting closer as he finished packing his own bag, slinging it over his shoulder along with loading his crossbow before he let himself look at what was coming. The herd was huge, bigger than the one at the farm by a lot. Glenn had been right – there was no way in hell that they would get through that size of herd and come out unscathed. It was fight or flight and they didn't stand a chance.

"Beth!" He called as the first walker went down curtesy of Tyreese, who didn't stop to make a second kill because he was taking off, little wide eyed Judith Grimes perched in one of his arms. He could see everyone taking off down the drive, cutting it close as the walkers swarmed. "Beth!"

The amount of them was overwhelming, even for him. And he had been ambushed more than once. The driveway the group had disappeared down was completely blocked now.

Panic was taking away his senses however, because he couldn't find _her_. She had just gone to relieve herself, and then things had to go to shit. Again. He wasn't leaving until he found her either, nope, wasn't doing that again. He'd tear through every single one of these damn walkers before he took off on her again. He'd fucking _become_ one first.

The struggle continued, and when he was on his last bolt he unsheathed his knife.

"Hey, are you crazy?" Michonne shouted as she came within distance to see what was unfolding, slicing one of the walkers' heads easily with her katana that was closing in on him. The walkers had closed in fast, blocking off the option to go downhill. If they wanted to make it uphill they had to move now. "You have to run!"

But both Michonne and Daryl himself knew that wasn't happening.

"Daryl!"

Oh thank the fucking Lord, or whatever was up there.

He looked at her in bewilderment as she sunk her borrowed knife in the head of a tall walker, pushing it away from her as it fell. Grabbed his arm at a run, dragging him away from his likely doomsday. And then they were off, running as fast as they could, their breaths coming out in short puffs as they ran uphill on the jagged forest floor.

The hill continued to steepen, the dirt below their feet sliding from underneath them. He wondered how the walkers could possibly be making their way up this, but remembered the times he was a boy and had a gnawing hunger pain in his belly. He would've done anything back then, and the walkers were making it known that they'd do anything now.

They couldn't make it much further, he realized solemnly as all that is human grows tired. Walkers, on the other hand, that were still groaning, snapping and reaching for them would not. He looked across from him and he recognized the same thought play across Michonne's face as well.

They were done.

He turned around, clutching Beth's hand. All three of them were done.

Until they weren't.

Until Beth Greene shook his hand away and started _climbing_ , urging him up after her, looking wildly across to the next climbable tree that Michonne didn't need to be told twice to scamper up into.

It took her a second to get herself situated on a branch, wildly catching Daryl's eyes. She was relieved to see he was only a branch or two below her, trying to get himself situated as well. She almost cried at the sight, she had been so worried that the thin branches on the bottom wouldn't hold his weight.

She leaned down, and as her smaller hand came into his view he grabbed it.

The three had wide eyes as the trees they were in began to sway, and Beth hoped that she just didn't kill off the three of them. If these trees came toppling down this steep incline there would be nothing any of them could do; they'd probably be dead before the tree hit the ground.

They were silent as they watched from a birds view, the walkers in the front of the herd that had saw them climb the tree easily forgetting that they were even there when they were out of reach, not having the intelligence to look up; accepting that they had disappeared.

And like most things in life, the herd continued on. Each time one would knock into their tree, she closed her eyes and shuttered, gripping onto the hand Daryl didn't move away from her tight grasp.

That had been close.

Too close.

…

They sat up in the trees for hours, to the point where the sun was far dipped in the sky. It took another hour after the last of the herd turned back down the hill for them to say anything, took another hour even for them to move their stiffened joints and climb down from spots they were still perched in.

Beth was the last one to hit the ground, but when she did she wasn't disappointed. Daryl had her in a death grip against his hardened chest, and if she was going to die, this is how she wanted to go. By being squished to death by this man that meant _everything_.

Michonne looked on at the scene, smiling softly. She admitted that she had overlooked Beth Greene back at the prison, but now, now Michonne knew that she would never overlook her ever again. Had it not been for the younger girl, she wouldn't be here. She had accepted her fate just as well as Daryl had, she was sure of it.

"Holy _fuck_ , girl," Daryl finally said, pulling her away from him so he could look at her face. "How'd you think of that?"

At that Beth shied away visibly, to which Daryl noticed. He jerked away, only to hate himself even more when he saw her flinch at his haste to put distance between them. Moment over, she noted. "Ran into the woods when they found me, cut me loose. Slept in the trees for a week."

She was looking down, ashamed of herself, ashamed that she felt hurt deep in her bones as Daryl had let her go as if she had burned him.

At the awkwardness that followed, Michonne stepped in. "So, what's the plan?"

Daryl grunted at that, and Beth sighed. They always had plans to make, there was no time to sit around and contemplate feelings anymore like she had once did back at the farmhouse. She had sat in her bedroom for hours back then, thinking, singing, writing in her journal. All that seemed so… trivial now.

Even though it wasn't said, both Michonne and Beth looked to Daryl.

"We'll circle around, try to find the others before the herd does," he shrugged. Survival was trial and error, nothing but an educated guess; and so far he hadn't made a fatal error. He knew it was coming, of course, but as the tiny blonde started down the hill after him, he could only hear her voice ringing in his head despite her being clamed up at the moment.

" _You're going to be the last man standing, Daryl Dixon."_

Not if he had anything to say about it.

…

They walked around the convenient store, peering through the trees silently only to see a few dozen walkers still milling aimlessly around. They didn't even bother checking, it was quite obvious if any of the group was still there that they were long gone, and the supplies they had kept there wasn't worth walking into that. Not with only three of them, and only the lone bolt he had recovered.

Sometimes, they had learned in this new apocalyptic world, you had to cut your losses.

As the walk progressed, it seemed that Michonne's footing got louder, grating on both of their frazzled nerves. Michonne was a warrior, but she wasn't made for the woods and forests quite like he was, or Beth now, as she made no sound beside him.

His mind easily wandered to the night before, what had happened between them.

 _When Beth pulled away, both had looks of disbelief at what had just happened written across their faces. That had certainly never happened before, and both of them retreated into themselves, confused and unwilling to talk about it._

 _Unwilling to talk about anything, it seemed._

 _She was beating herself up over it, and he was looking anywhere but her when Abraham stumbled out of the store for watch, relieving the pair of them. They walked back to where she had slept peacefully before, slumping down under the blankets but now fully alert and unwilling to close her eyes._

 _It was becoming clear that he wasn't going to address it._

" _Hey," she began, rolling on her side so she was facing him. He had his arm underneath his head as per usual, his other hand up to his face, his thumb tracing over his lips where hers had been a moment ago._

 _He grunted in acknowledgment, but didn't say anything else. Her musings had been correct._

" _I'm not sorry," she told him, shrugging her shoulders at him before rolling flat on her back again. And she wasn't; had the moment come up again, she would've done the same thing. She was so different than she had been before, but there was something about Daryl Dixon that hadn't changed for her. He was still the man who went out of his way to protect her; protect them. Was still the man who would've stayed in that funeral home with her as long as she had needed._

 _He was everything that she wasn't, and she couldn't imagine ever surviving without him again._

 _She didn't want to just survive – for the first time since Carol and Tyreese had cut her restraints, Beth wanted to_ _ **live**_ _again, and to do that she needed_ _ **him**_ _._

 _His response was late, and she could tell there was a lot of thought that went into the minimal amount of response. "I ain't either."_

Back in the present, he noticed that the sun was becoming so low that they would run out of light quickly. Maybe had an hour, give or take. And where he liked the idea of Beth's tree sleeping, he wasn't fully convinced that he wouldn't fall out of the damn thing in the middle of the night.

So he slowed when he found a small barren spot among thick brush, handed his bag over to Beth who set about their usual routine easily.

Michonne stood off from the two, suddenly feeling very out of place. It was clear to her that this unusual pair had become quite the circuit. They could communicate with each other without words at all, and it both amazed and unnerved her. She didn't like being out of the loop, didn't want to spend the night away from Rick and the group.

She finally settled on helping the younger Greene sibling, placing the cans on string system strategically around them in a circle. Daryl had gone off, she noticed, but Beth didn't seem worried.

"Went to go take a look around us," Beth said easily as she watched the older woman look around. During the walk here she had watched Michonne. Not because she didn't trust the woman, because she did. Michonne had quickly become family. She watched her because she was aware that Daryl and she had fallen back into their routine, and it wasn't something the rest of the group had witnessed. Maybe in glimpses since the reunion, but nothing like what Michonne was experiencing. "We'll find them, don't worry."

The older woman smiled at that. "If I could put money on anyone, it would be you two. I'm not worried."

Beth smiled at that. She had always liked Michonne, glad that out of everyone that Daryl and her could've ended up with, that it was her. But her smile faltered as she thought about money, and how it no longer held significance. "Well, good."

It didn't take them long to get the camp set, and Michonne watched in fascination as Beth used a mirror shard to reflect what was left of the quickly diminishing sun into a small fire. She didn't let the fire grow, stomping on the flames until they were just glowing embers on the ground. To Michonne, this was all too surreal.

The embers gave off enough light for them to see each other, but not enough to draw attention to them. Almost enough warmth, too, as a chill came along with the blanket of darkness.

And as the trees parted, Michonne had her katana raised and ready to strike, only pulling back when she saw how relaxed Beth was as if she knew it was him all along. Daryl made his way back to them, two squirrels hanging limply off the belt that hung around his waist.

Once again, Michonne felt largely out of depth.

He threw a squirrel at Beth, and Michonne watched in upmost surprise as the delicate woman took out her knife and made quick work of preparing the small animal, finishing only a moment after Daryl. She passed it back to him, and he threw them both on the embers that were still burning away.

Everything they did was well practiced, well ingrained.

She watched as Beth pulled out a dollar bill from her own pack, bringing it to the embers enough for it to catch, and then throwing the now useless money on the innards of their meal. She made sure to stomp it out, enough to burn away the walker bait but not enough so they would be sitting ducks.

Daryl turned the small animals over, charred but much preferred to eating it raw. And as they started to eat, the darkness became night.

They were all silent as they chewed thoughtfully, thinking about the whereabouts of the others, if they had lost anyone, if they had food in their bellies too. Beth was sullen, thinking about the reunion with her sister. She had just gotten Maggie back, and now here they were separated again.

She didn't know if her heart could take another round of being forgotten.

"Do you think they continued on to DC?" Michonne whispered, not being able to take the silence any longer.

Both their eyes trained to her.

"Nah," Daryl spoke in a gravelly voice, unkempt from lack of use. "Rick's waitin' out the winter. Wants more information first."

Michonne nodded at that, she had been weary herself about Eugene and his band of followers.

As the night wound down and the embers became ashes, it was becoming apparent that sleep was needed. And Daryl couldn't say he was disappointed when Michonne offered up for first watch, because he had been up all night the night before, contemplating and thinking about the moment he had shared with Beth.

It was cold, but not unbearable. It wasn't as cold as it would get as the summer sun retreated for the winter months. Daryl knew that when that happened, whether they wanted to or not, they would have to find somewhere to call home. Would have to stop their search for the group, and the sight of the funeral home flashed before his eyes once again.

He shook his head.

This time would be different – he wasn't going to lose her.

Daryl was thinking about the poncho he had lost when Beth shimmied closer to him than he was expecting, especially since he had been such an ass back when she brought up her week alone in the woods. He didn't mean it – not in the way he could see she took it. He had jerked away from her because he still blamed himself. It was still _his_ fault that anything had happened to her in the first place, and he didn't know why she was okay with him touching her anyways.

"I'm freezing," she revealed, her shoulder that was now touching his shaking. It took everything he had in him, it really did, but he slowly turned on his side facing her. She froze for a second at his raised hand, to which he noticed and almost jerked away from her again. Almost didn't catch himself, but did. She shuffled gracefully under the arm he was holding up for her.

This was just because it was cold, he told himself.

Merle hooted and hollered somewhere in the depths of his thoughts, something about jailbait, and he had to bite his tongue to resist the urge to pull away. The way she was wiggling around him was dangerous, and it was almost too much for him.

Her nose was like an ice cube as it hit his exposed neck.

"Jesus, girl," he shook his head as she continued to shiver. He began to rub her back, trying to forget that this was something that Dixon's just didn't do; they just didn't show this kind of affection to anyone, let alone the beautiful blonde who was pressed up against him.

"Sorry," she whispered, crawling her way closer, innocently entwining her legs with his. She really was cold, but a part of this on her behalf was needed. She _needed_ to feel human contact right now, and he was accepting, willing even as he rubbed her back. So many things were happening between the pair, and she knew that eventually they would need to talk.

But not now, because _oh_ his arms felt good around her.

She fell asleep in no time, his arms still around her, bringing both warmth and comfort. She fell into a deep sleep, complete peace washing over her as his musky scent surrounded her. Here, in his arms, she was _safe_.

 **TBC**

 **Please let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Apologies for the late update – last week was crazy, and this week isn't looking much better. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Seven**

It was early morning when Beth awoke, sleeping beside Michonne.

The sun that was beginning to rise was warming the Earth, and for that she was grateful. They had been on the road for a week, and the weather was quickly becoming frigid and she knew she needed to acquire a new outfit for the seasons change. The beyond dirty and tattered polo and ripped jeans weren't cutting it. And the thin sweater Maggie had given her at the convenient store wasn't nearly enough.

She clutched the blanket that Michonne wasn't using around her.

He was sitting with his back against a tree, whittling homemade bolts with his knife. He didn't look up as she made her way towards him, but she was okay with that. She just wanted to sit and let herself wake up – it was something they didn't get to do much of anymore.

She suspected that the new sleeping position was too much for him, and when she woke up with the warming sun, she wondered if it was too much for herself, as well. The pair were back to their awkward silence, and it hung heavy. Every night when she sought out his arms, the next morning would be much like this one.

She could tell he was thinking; he always was.

There were a few already made bolts beside him, and she marveled at the man who sat beside her. He was just… _made_ for this world.

He must have gotten up for second watch, and it was no surprise to her that he didn't bother to wake her up for third watch. The man only needed a few hours to get by on, and she had always envied that of him. Worried also, though, as sometimes when they were on the road together he let it go too long and she had to remind him that sleep was only human.

"Sleep okay?" He asked, startling her. He finally turned his eyes sideways to meet hers, who were staring at him without registering. "Stop staring, Greene."

Her face turned hot and she felt like a high school girl again. "Yeah, did you?"

"Mm," he nodded, turning his attention back to his whittling.

She looked around, trying to divert her eyes from watching him. It was too easy to watch him. So she settled on taking in their surroundings. Michonne was still out cold, despite the continuing brightening sun. She looked relaxed, and Beth felt herself smile at the scene. The woman, since joining the group, had proved herself in many more ways than one. Had bonded especially well with Rick and his children. It was nice to see her relaxed, even if during sleep.

She found her thoughts drifting to Maggie, to Glenn, to Rick and Carl and Judith. They had just been reunited once again, and it broke her already broken heart even more. She had felt awkward and out of place within the group, but now that she was without them again, she grieved for them like she had at the fall of the prison.

Tears threatened to fall, but she held them back bravely.

Everything would be okay.

She wasn't alone anymore.

Daryl watched the play of emotions on her face from beneath his hair, the playfulness of the situation coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of her glassy eyes.

He made up his mind, pulling his bag open.

"'Ere," he motioned, holding out her knife to her. He watched as her eyes went from confusion to recognition, and hers met his with a look of bewilderment. She froze.

Instead of taking it, she asked. "How?"

"Found it after they took ya," he gulped, not keen on reminding her. He couldn't look at her, so he toyed with the knife nervously. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. "Lost most of the other things you had, thought if I found ya again I'd give it back."

Tears threatened to stream down her porcelain cheeks, staring openly in wonder at the man sitting beside her. He acted so gruff, so closed off and cold. But she knew better. Underneath the layers of Daryl Dixon, there was a soft one. A layer that was full of insecurities and gentleness – and he showed it to _her_.

"Oh, Daryl," she sighed, and when he looked back at her she couldn't stop herself from pressing her lips to his.

…

He couldn't wipe the stupid smirk off his face for the rest of the morning.

Could tell she knew, too, because every time they caught gazes she would give him a knowing smile. Maybe they didn't exactly know what this was, or where it was going, but maybe it didn't have to be _wrong._ Maybe it could be so wrong it was _right_. The further it progressed, the more right it felt.

Michonne was acting innocently oblivious, helping make quick work of packing up camp. They had to get a move on if they wanted to catch the group who were moving north, to his suspicions. The tracks that they had left behind were ruined due to the circling herd, and he was going on what Rick had told him.

If the man had changed his mind, who knows when they would meet up again. They had already found each other countless times in a world that was determined to keep them apart. Daryl was going to try his damned hardest to get them all back in one piece to the group. In this new world, numbers meant everything.

They began walking, quietly, Michonne's loud footing not bothering him as much as it had yesterday. Beth walked alongside him, easily keeping up the pace with his much longer stride, making no noise. She had been a sponge for knowledge back before everything, when they were together. He thought in the back of his head that maybe they should continue, maybe he should even include Michonne because they needed to be ready.

Ready, in case they never came across the group again.

He easily pushed that aside, however, as he noticed something up ahead.

He stopped, putting his arm out sideways, Beth running into it but stopping abruptly from the surprise. Michonne thankfully stopped before running into their backs, listening and looking for what the experienced hunter saw and heard before she did.

Both Beth and Michonne's eyes widened at the sound of a baby crying.

Daryl didn't hesitate before running forward, pausing only when he saw the little girl on the forest floor, pink onesie caked with dirt, crawling by herself.

 _What in the –_

The sounds of an impending walker alerted his senses, and he only had a second before he threw little Judith Grimes over his shoulder, turning back to the noise.

Beth Greene watched with wide eyes as she came into the clearing, frozen.

Daryl held the wailing baby safely in his arms, holding his crossbow one armed at the walker. The walker who was bound to a tree with a belt, the walker who snapped and growled as humans came near, the walker who used to be one of their own – walker _Tyreese_.

Beth let out a strangled sob, Michonne closed her eyes, and poor little Judith screeched to the very top of her lungs.

Oh _man_.

He turned away from their friend, _his_ friend, unable to watch any longer. He looked at Beth, who was holding onto Michonne's elbow as they both watched with horror stricken faces. As she noticed the baby, though, she broke out of her trance and cautiously stepped forward.

The child, who was working her way into hysterics by now noticed when the blonde stepped forwards, all but trashing out of Daryl's arms and into hers. She rubbed the child's head, checking her all over for scratches or bites. She came up empty, though, and looked back at what used to be Tyreese.

He had saved Judith, again.

The price, his untimely death.

"Daryl," she spoke up, her voice strangled with unshed tears as she cradled the baby close. She handed him the knife he had only returned to her that morning. "Will you?"

He nodded, taking the knife from her grip before turning back to the man who had saved Rick's youngest daughter, not once but twice. Who had saved Beth, who had killed the man who took her. Daryl knew that Rick would be forever grateful as was he, and he knew that someone that wasn't him would come up with the right words for this man – this hero.

The belt that proved to be Tyreese's own belt still restrained him securely, the former burly man shrunken in due to the infection, disease, whatever you wanted to call it. A twinge of guilt fluttered in Daryl's chest. Maybe if they hadn't stopped for the night, maybe if he had woken Michonne earlier this morning.

He was still strong, having not turned long ago, but he was no match with both his hands restricted from the belt.

He made sure Beth was turned away before he turned back to Tyreese, and as he sunk the knife into the head of what used to be a good friend, a part of the family, he whispered out. "Thanks, brother."

…

The journey continued on with a much slower pace now that Beth and Michonne took turns holding the small child. They were all quiet, even Judith wasn't making a noise now she was in someone's arms again. They were all thinking about what had just happened, what they had just witnessed.

Beth had been through a lot. They all had.

She didn't like to dwell on it, but sometimes, on walks in particular, she just couldn't shut her mind off. And they had been walking for a week straight. She thought about the people she had lost, thought about the murders she watched take place. Thought about her father being beheaded in front of his two little girls, and flinched the next time Michonne raised her weapon of choice to behead a lone walker.

She thought about the fall of the farm, the fall of the only place she had known at the time. Growing up she had always dreamed about college and making something of herself. Day dreamed about the wedding she would one day have, the type of flowers her Mama would twist into a beautiful crown for her, how the farm would be the perfect place for it to take place. Dreamed of residing on the farm with her own family, when it came time for that to happen.

Thought about that cold, hard winter on the road. About how she didn't want to do that again.

She thought about the fall of the prison, the one place since the farm Beth had allowed herself to consider _home_ again. She'd decorated her dreary concrete cell walls, in hopes of the place becoming permanent. The dark prison was like a five star hotel in this new apocalyptic shit hole.

Thought about how she had been so scared when there was no more protecting to do; all they had left to do was run. Thought about how scared she was when the tank opened the walls and she had been alone, walkers making their way in. She had stood there in shock for what she knew had been too long, before making a mad dash back into the place for Judith.

That's when Daryl had grabbed her.

Her mind working into overdrive, she thought about the time they had spent together. It had to have been months, even if they were no longer keeping track of time. Thought about the liquor run she had made him go on, thought about the moonshine shack and how she had wrapped her arms around Daryl's midsection as he cried about their losses. About how they may never find the family again – the _only_ family he had ever had – about how everyone they knew were gone.

The _serious_ piggybacks, the funeral home, the dog, the " _oh"_.

Thought about the crack upon the back of her skull while watching the funeral home crawl with walkers, waiting, waiting and waiting for Daryl to emerge.

Darkness, she remembered the darkness.

She thought about when she had woken up, in that cabin she tried to push into the back of her mind since leaving. The first thing she had noticed when she came to was the sharp pain on the back of her head, the second thing she had thought about was _him._ Where was he? Did he make it out of that funeral home? Had they been sitting ducks in the spot that had clearly not been as abandoned as they had believed?

Her hands had been tied behind her back with twist ties, getting tighter as she moved her stiff fingers and wrists. Her feet had been about the same, and the panic set in definitely when she realized she didn't have clothes on.

She remembered the inhumane experiences, the moment that monster took something from her that she had been saving for someone who loved her.

Remembered the odd tasting jerky that he would throw at her, thought about how she couldn't identify the kind of animal it had come from. Thought about how she'd refused to eat it until hunger became physically painful.

It make her stomach churn involuntarily.

So many thoughts and memories were swirling in her head that she walked right into the back of Daryl's vest when he stopped, bumping Judith awake in the process.

"Shh," he whispered, holding up a hand for her to stay put. She nodded at him, her heart beating wildly in her chest as he became invisible within the trees. She smiled at the baby, rubbing her back, trying to soothe not only Judy but herself. They were lucky in the means of how well behaved Judith was; she wasn't anywhere near colicky, even if she had every right to be.

Michonne stood by her with her katana wielded. She wanted to tell the woman to get that damn thing away from her, but dismissed the thought as Daryl walked back with wide eyes staring into hers.

There weren't many times she has witnessed Daryl Dixon be unsure of things, but this was one of them.

"What is it?" Michonne whispered out fiercely.

"Walls," Daryl grunted, chewing on his lip as he watched Beth. He knew that she would be the last person to want to contain herself within walls again. Since returning to the group, she had become just like a caged animal whenever within four walls. Alert and dangerously panicked. "Sturdy walls."

Beth's face blanched, but Michonne's eyes shone.

"Do you think the others are there?" Michonne asked the obvious, looking between the two she had been surviving with. Michonne wasn't stupid, knew what was going on. She didn't say as much, knew it wasn't her business. She watched them both closely with an intuitive eye. "We have to try."

Beth's heart hammered in her chest.

Daryl shrugged, letting out a gasp of air that Beth knew to be frustration. "Don't know no mor'n you. Could be a Terminus repeat."

"The others could be there, too." Michonne counteracted with a response that sounded final.

Beth knew that the reason Daryl was hesitating was her. Knew that the only reason they weren't making their way to the gated area was her caged animal reaction to just about everything but the woods as of late. And she didn't want to go, could feel the panic seize her throat.

But then little Judy squirmed uncomfortably in her arms, and she knew she had to deal. They were officially out of canned food since that morning, and the toddler wasn't old enough to eat solid food like wild meat.

"We'll need a story," Beth whispered, sucking in as much courage as she could to make her voice not waver. "In case none of the others are in there, we don't want to be split up."

Michonne nodded at that, Daryl watched her under his hair.

"Well," Michonne cleared her throat. Pointing to Judith, shrugging. "She'll have to be yours."

Beth nodded, the darker complexion of the woman standing in front of her was a dead giveaway that the baby couldn't be hers. And even though Judith happily went to both Daryl and Michonne, the baby looked for her during naptimes, mealtimes and bedtimes.

Michonne continued. "I met you two on the road, joined up."

Beth blushed. She knew that Michonne had saw their compromising sleeping arrangements, knew the woman was aware of more than she showed. It was just one of the many things she loved about her.

Beth turned to Daryl who wouldn't look anywhere besides the tips of his boots, his crossbow slung back over this shoulder, but she could tell he was still on high alert.

Michonne rolled her eyes. "You two sure as hell won't pass for siblings – she's both of yours. Keep it simple, no one will question it."

She heard Daryl take in an audible breathe, and she relaxed a fraction as he nodded.

"A'ight," he all but growled, wanting to get as far away from the conversation as he could. "Let's go."

 **TBC**

 **Thanks for reading, and make sure to let me know what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8

****Author's Note: I'm still really enjoying writing this story – I'm surprising myself.****

 ** **Real****

 ** **Chapter Eight****

"Stop right there!" A voice shouted out as they walked into the clearing, where cast iron walls stood defiantly in the middle of an otherwise wooded area.

Beth halted immediately, the sudden jerkiness of her movements causing Judith to squirm in her arms, the baby searching for the intruding voice. Daryl gripped her elbow, thankfully keeping her firmly planted to the ground.

She wondered how he knew.

The young man, who looked to be a little older than Beth slinked out from behind the walls, opening the gate and closing it again after himself. She cowered back, holding the baby closer to her chest. It probably looked convincing, she realized, but she was scared. Scared that these people weren't good. Daryl had his crossbow loaded and aimed one handed.

 _"_ _ _I don't think the good ones survive."__

However, the young man smiled upon his arrival in front of them, raising his hands in surrender at the weapon pointed to his face. "Hello, welcome to Alexandria Safe Zone. My name is Aaron."

Daryl watched him with hooded eyes, keeping a firm grip on Beth's elbow, the weapon trained at his target. No way in hell was he letting anyone get the upper hand. "We ain't going anywhere just yet."

Self-pronounced Aaron nodded his head, seemingly used to the hesitance he was receiving. It unnerved Beth. "It's okay, take as long as you want. You don't have to come in today, if you don't want to. But we'd prefer you didn't spread the word to just anyone."

She liked the sound of that.

But apparently, Michonne didn't.

"What's behind the walls?" She asked, stepping around Daryl. She had her katana hanging loosely in her hand, not trying to intimidate but making it known she wouldn't hesitate. Not this time.

Aaron's eyes lit up at the question. "A whole community! We've been working on rebuilding what used to be, before all this. We've got housing, running water, and even a few chickens. I've got pictures, would you like to see?"

Beth shrunk back at that, taking another step towards the woods they had just willingly walked out of. Finally finding her voice, she spoke up. "That's too good to be true."

The man smiled wistfully at that. From what Beth could tell, he seemed genuinely disheartened by the current state of the world. "I know it's bad out there, that's why a place like Alexandria is so important."

Michonne extended her arm, palm up waiting for the pictures. She wasn't disappointed as the man handed them over.

"We found a polaroid not long ago, on one of our runs. I've been using them to recruit people we stumbled upon out there." He looked down. "Well, we __did__. One of the newcomers suggested we give it up."

Daryl snorted at that, looking at the pictures as Michonne shuffled through them. The pictures looked surreal, like something that had been long gone at the start of the epidemic. The inside grass was trimmed, the houses looked freshly painted and well kempt. There were pictures of children playing, adults building the walls that stood high, and a lot of laughing and smiling were happening in these pictures. Hell, he even had pictures of said chickens.

Daryl shrugged, lowering his weapon a fraction, glanced at Beth. He was known to be skeptical, but he watched as her face changed suddenly.

"How do you know her?" Beth demanded harshly, and it took him a moment to realize what she was even talking about. She grabbed the photo out of Michonne's hand, clutching it to her chest, Judith grabbing at the new item within her reach.

"Who?" Aaron asked innocently, but it put Daryl on edge. Had he just walked them into danger?

"Her!" Beth whipped the picture in front of the man's eyes. She clutched the baby with one hand, extending her arm so he could see. She was getting all sorts of emotions and now was not the time. Her voice was demanding and oddly detached. "How do you know my sister?"

"You're Beth Greene?" Aaron's eyes widened at his own realization. "And you're Daryl Dixon?"

…

Walking into Alexandria was something Beth thought she would never experience again, not in this lifetime.

There were no well-trimmed houses with windows unbarred, anymore. There were no communities that haven't been touched with years of inoccupation. There weren't sounds of laughter and children running around the fields freely. Not in this world. Not anymore.

But yet, here stood Alexandria. Everything true from the pictures they'd been shown.

She took it all in with wide eyes.

Aaron ran off in excitement of finding the others, leaving the three of them standing there, Judith wide eyed at the new and unfamiliar scenery. He had explained to them that a man named Rick Grimes had been Alexandria's saving grace, and the story they had come up with wasn't needed.

Because of __course__ he had heard about the hunter, the songbird and the katana warrior.

The first person of the group to emerge into view was Carol. She bounded over to them, tears cascading down her face at the sight. "Oh my God, it's true!"

Beth embraced her with one arm as she came up to her, relief washing over the younger woman at the sight of a familiar face. She watched on with tears of her own as Carol kissed Judith's face, embraced both Michonne and Daryl.

The next one to surface was Glenn. He was running and yelling curse words as he reached Beth, the second reunion proving to be much sweeter than the first. Beth embraced him with tears now streaming down her face, she hadn't realized how much she had missed her brother in law – the __group__.

Letting her go, Glenn waltzed over to Daryl, pulling out a full package of cigarettes and placing them on his chest. "I knew I'd be able to give these to you someday."

Daryl hummed, looking down at the full pack of smokes in his hand – the kind he had smoked before the world went to shit. The gift meant more to Daryl than he was willing to admit. Looking up, he gave the man in front of him a half smile, seeing Glenn in a whole new light. "Thanks, Chinaman."

Glenn scoffed, although it was affectionately. "Korean."

Beth watched on with a wide smile.

Rick was next, staggering towards them much like he had back at the cabin, once again taken away at the sight of his little girl. Carl behind him, a sob of disbelief escaping his mouth as he gripped his father's arm. Beth smiled, tears shining in her eyes at their reunion.

As soon as Judith saw her father and brother, she reacted.

She was in Rick's arms in no time, Carl petting her cheek with the back of his hand in awe. To everyone's surprise, Michonne was hauled into the Grimes' family hug, tears of joy falling freely. It was a beautiful sight, Aaron thought, as he watched with tears in his eyes.

A strangled sob filled the air that sounded a lot like her own name, and Beth wasn't disappointed when Maggie once again bounded into her arms. "Oh my God, Beth!"

The sisters cried, holding each other close. This is the way the reunion __should__ have went the first time, Beth thought. She should have felt nothing than the upbeat exhilaration she was feeling now, the blood pounding though her body reminding her that she was alive.

She made it.

 _"_ _ _I am strong."__

Maggie held her at arms lengths, a watery smile showing, and Beth felt the corners of her own mouth lift as well. "I looked for you, Beth. I looked everywhere, I was so scared."

Another wave of tears fell and then Glenn was hauled into the mix. Daryl watched, happy she was finally getting the reunion she deserved. The one she had been looking for the whole time they had been on the road together.

So he wasn't expecting it when Carol slid up next to him, the question she asked barely above a whisper. "Tyreese?"

He noticed that Maggie and Glenn were slowing walking with Beth in towards the town, didn't have to look up because he could feel her presence slipping away. But for that he was grateful, she didn't need to be reminded of something so sad at a time like this.

Daryl looked down, shook his head, only for the older woman to gasp a sob and cover her mouth. Back at the cabin he had been aware that Carol and Tyreese were becoming closer, had bonded over their time in survival alone, much like Beth and him had.

He watched solemnly as her face grew more upset before she excused herself.

Rick was in front of him next, Judith still sitting happily in his arm. The older man placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with genuine eyes. "I don't know how to thank you, man."

Daryl shrugged, forever uncomfortable with praise from anyone, even if it was Rick. Michonne started telling Rick about Tyreese and what they had come upon in the middle of the woods. About how their former friends had tied himself down and away from Judith, keeping her safe even after his death. He struggled with staying to listen, pulling into himself as the blank stare came over Rick's taunt expression.

"Well, you were there when I wasn't." Rick began, turning to him. Daryl nodded at that, finally accepting his words before Rick handed Judith off to Carl, outstretching his arms to show off the surrounding community. "Welcome home, brother."

…

Beth was overwhelmed with all the amenities that Alexandria had to offer.

Maggie had walked hand in hand with her all the way through the town, pointing out specific buildings and areas, saying easy hellos to the people milling around the streets. There was a school, a doctor's office, a general store with inventory that Maggie proudly stated she was in charge of. There was so much going on that Beth almost didn't notice when they came to a two story house, painted a soft pink colour with white shutters.

"This is where I live with Glenn, Tara and Rosita," Maggie told her, quickly opening the door for her little sister. But Beth didn't budge at the invitation. "Beth?"

Her throat was tight, she wasn't ready for this. It was all too much.

"Um," she floundered. She needed something, anything. "I want to see the walls."

Maggie smiled at that, overlooking the sudden change in Beth's demur. Beth watched as her older sister hit her head with the palm of her hand, rolling her eyes at herself. "Of course, I knew I was forgetting something."

It was an odd feeling, Beth mused as they walked closer to the edge of the community towards the high standing walls, Maggie rambling the whole way about the new found life in Alexandria. To be in a confined space and not be panicking; yet she couldn't bring herself to step into the threshold of a house – a __home__.

Maggie told her that she __lived__ there. It didn't sound like the constant struggle of surviving that everyone had become accustomed to.

"Beth?"

Beth looked up, looked to Maggie to repeat her question.

"What happened? We all ran down the hill and I looked for you everywhere." Maggie looked down, guilt once again crossing her features like it had back at the cabin. "The herd caught up to us though, we had to keep running. I'm so sorry I couldn't find you."

Beth inspected the walls they were quickly approaching. They looked exactly the way Daryl had described them upon first laying eyes on them – __sturdy__. Wooden beams were going up slowly but surely, and it oddly felt like a fortification, like the ones she used to study in history class. "It wasn't your fault, Maggie. Shit happens."

Maggie's eyebrows raised in surprise. The little sister she had known back at the prison didn't curse; didn't do a lot of things that this new Beth did. It was hard, Maggie was used to being the big sister. Beth had always been someone who needed protecting – at least to her. "It's different, you know. For me. This new hard as nails sister, who I don't have to protect anymore."

Beth sat crossed legged beside her sister, listening.

"Who apparently curses," Maggie laughed, tears once again glistening in her eyes, and Beth couldn't help but chuckle too. "I'm sorry for a lot of things, Beth. But most of all, I'm sorry that I thought you didn't make it. I saw that bus, and I thought you were on it – we'd just lost Daddy."

Maggie looked down, and Beth felt a pang of hurt flash through her as she thought about her father, how none of this was fair.

"It was easier for me to move on, focus on finding Glenn. It was wrong of me, I know that now. I was so happy when we found you at that cabin, Beth, I forgot that you'd gone through things too. Much worse things than I had."

This had been a long needed moment between the two of them.

"I'm sorry too, Maggie. I'm a different person now – you didn't know. You couldn't have known." She pulled her knees up to her chest, her chin resting on her knees as she watched out over Alexandria. Noticed how Daryl was being shown the chickens, noticed how excited Rick was. "I don't want to talk about what happened when I was taken from Daryl. Not now. I'm not ready."

Maggie nodded, silence following. And for the first time since being reunited back at that cabin, Beth wanted to give her sister more.

"You're my sister, the only family I have left." Beth grabbed her sister's hand, the tears once again flowing freely between the pair. "And I love you. When I'm ready, you'll be one of the first ones to know."

Maggie let out a rushed breathe, sniffling back her tears. She pulled Beth into her slowly, like they had used to huddle together when Mama and Daddy were mad at them for doing something naughty. It was a good moment, and Beth relished in the comfort of her sister.

It was silent as they watched Rick and Daryl cross the open field in front of them, going back into the community.

"Can I ask you something? You won't get mad?"

Beth looked up at her sister at that, shrugging, not really answering but already knowing that when Maggie had a question, the Devil himself couldn't stop her from asking. She'd always been like that, was like that long before the apocalypse.

"What's happening with you and Daryl?

The question caught her off guard, when really it shouldn't have at all. And despite wanting to confide in her sister, wanting a small piece of the past back where they had done this all the time, talked about boys – she didn't know. Didn't know where she and the hunter stood. Had no idea.

She thought about the answer a long time, so long that Maggie didn't think she would get a response.

"He saved me," Beth gulped, tightening her arms around her legs. "In more ways than one."

…

Daryl could tell there was an issue as soon as he came in proximity of the house.

He walked to where he had known he'd find Beth after the initial tour with Rick. Alexandria was good. It was somewhere that they would be safe without the constant fear of the outside world. As far as he could see, Rick had made the right decision on staying here for now.

Always 'for now'.

Be damned if he let this get too permanent, let their guards down.

"Hey," he said as she whipped around to face him, away from her sister. Her white blonde hair whipped around at the action, he noticed.

"I ain't sleeping in there!" She stated harshly, the statement accompanied with an abashed looking Maggie who was keeping her mouth shut despite the deepening colour of her neck and face. And then again, Beth stated much softer. "I ain't."

Glenn looked to him from the front of the doorway to the house, where he stood with his wife, as if Daryl could actually control Beth. He diverted his eyes, seems like she'd made her mind up on her own.

"Beth," Maggie coaxed. "I promise nothing will hurt you in here. It's too cold to sleep outside."

Beth kept her eyes trained on his, and he didn't dare look away. He shrugged as he got her silent communication. "Up to you."

He heard Maggie sigh, defeated. "Okay Beth, but when you decide it's time to come in I'll have your shower things ready."

Maggie closed the door softly behind her as she retreated inside, the community once again becoming silent. Daryl didn't need to be told twice to follow her as she started to walk towards the walls. Since stepping foot into the place, he knew she was struggling. Knew that she was panicked and felt caged – like he did.

Once they reached the edge of the walls, where she had sat with Maggie only hours ago, she plopped down. Spreading the blankets, but foregoing the cans on strings for the walls keeping them enclosed. Speaking after getting herself situated. "I have to say, a shower is almost worth it."

He chuckled, catching her eye.

"You're beautiful when you smile, Daryl Dixon."

And fuck, he blushed.

She laid down on her back, looking at him expectantly and he didn't disappoint. She grabbed his hand and he laced their fingers together. This was the first time they had been alone since they had to make a run for it at the convenient store – it had to have been over a week.

"Maggie told me that tomorrow we have to be seen by Deanna, so she can record our whereabouts since the world ended." Beth whispered, fear evident in her voice. "I want you there with me."

He nodded. "Be anywhere you want me 't be, girl."

He felt her body relax at that. "Daryl?"

"Mm?"

He waited a beat, looking over at her when she didn't answer. He watched her as she looked at him, __really__ looked at him. He squirmed underneath her gaze – Beth Greene looking at him like this would be his undoing, he was sure.

"I would've stayed in that funeral home with you… forever, probably." At that she shuffled closer to him, moving his arm underneath her head, turning her body to cradle the side of his. He was almost having heart palpations – the emotions he felt bubbling at the surface were new – uncharted.

He hugged her close, closing his eyes at the memory.

He'd been ready back then– he'd said it to her, even. He would've stayed there forever, as long as Beth Greene was with him. A lot of things in his life since the fall of the prison had orbited around the woman who was pressed firmly up against him. "Nah, we would've had to find these numbnuts eventually."

She laughed; a genuine laugh.

 ** **TBC****

 ** **Thanks for reading and feel free to let me know your thoughts! I know there were a few of you hoping that they weren't going to find Alexandria this chapter, but things will progress shortly –****


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: So very impressed at the few of you who show continuous support for this story. It is very much appreciated!**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Nine**

"You ain't getting it, nope." It was final, and everyone who stood around froze. Beth, along with Daryl clutched to her own weapon with steadfast hands.

"Common Daryl," Rick coaxed. "It's not safe to have weapons around small kids, they're not needed in here."

Daryl scoffed, looking at Rick like he had grown two heads. "Nah."

Rick sighed, defeated for now, Beth knew. There was no way in hell that he was going to get Daryl to willingly hand over his crossbow.

They had woken up early – earlier than everyone else. They had watched the community from their faraway bed at the walls, and Beth hadn't even been cold. The week alone with him and Michonne, they had gotten over all awkwardness when it came time to sleep. She no longer flinched as he wound his arm over and around her, and he no longer went rigid and stiff at the action he knew she looked for.

Progress.

Albeit slow, but definite progress.

Rick was standing beside the woman who had pronounced herself as the infamous Deanna Monroe, founder and co-leader of the Alexandria Safe Zone. They had shown up like instructed, only for this woman to insist they hand over their weapons. She was thankful Rick had the sense to tag along that morning – this could have gone a lot worse had their group leader not been present.

"You can keep it at my house, locked away from Judith. Okay?" Rick asked, looking at the younger man closely. Rick himself had had a hard time adjusting to this new lifestyle here in Alexandria. He'd even hidden his own pistol in his house, undetected. He knew exactly what Daryl was experiencing.

Beth could tell that Daryl had to calm himself down, but reluctantly nodded his head.

"You too, Beth," at which she nodded her head along to Rick. They reluctantly handed over his crossbow and her knife that she had just gotten back.

Rick pinched the bridge of his nose for a second, a habit that Beth had picked up on back during the farm era. She realized that as long as he was here, they were okay. They'd be alright, even if their weapons were locked somewhere they wouldn't have immediate access to.

At least, she hoped.

"Alright then, Ms. Greene, why don't you step into my office with me?" Deanna asked, and Beth could tell she was a nice woman, really she could. But she froze with fear, staring at the woman openly, unmoving. She had yet to enter a structured building, hadn't had plans to, at least any time in the near future.

"We're doing this together," Daryl breezed. He sounded nonchalant, as if no one would question him and things would go his way. And in a way, it worked, because Rick nodded, turned to Deanna who shrugged her shoulders.

"This is new, and a special circumstance. But it'll be allowed."

Beth wondered if her first impression was wrong. She was beginning to not like this older woman.

"Um," Beth faltered as the three of them stepped towards Deanna's office. She was panting by now, uncomfortable and tears threatening to make an appearance. They all turned back to look at her, but Daryl, thank _God_ Daryl stood directly in front of her.

He gently cradled her elbow. "Hey, it'll be okay."

"I can't." He watched as she started to slowly come undone around the seams, her terrified and panicked eyes locking with his. "I ain't."

"A'right," Daryl quickly and easily caved. He wanted her tears to disappear, he wanted to go back to this morning where she had woken and given him a sleepy smile as she rolled over to face him. "We ain't gotta do nothin' right now."

He exited the scene by pushing her in the direction they had just came from, turning around to see a sad but knowing expression cross Rick's face as his friend explained their situation to Deanna.

…

"We gotta get outta here," Beth was frantic, her breathing not slowing as he followed her quick footsteps back to the outer lying walls. She was practically running. "We need to get the group together and get out of here."

Daryl followed, his eyebrows knit together at the odd and different reaction Beth was having. She was like a caged animal, stepping uneasily around everything and everyone.

Broken.

Real.

"Wait, Beth," Daryl relented, stepping swiftly and efficiently in front of her. She bounded into his chest at the action, but didn't pull back. It seemed as she hit his chest, the floodgates opened. He looked around, they were in the middle of an open field on the furthest side of the place, past the housing and even the chicken coup.

He rubbed her back awkwardly, even though no one was in sight. Thought about it for a second, and then lifted her up in his arms like he had back at the funeral home. She gave a jolt of surprise, but after the fact she didn't protest.

He walked the rest of the distance to where they left the blankets, and laid her down. She made quick work of burrowing herself deep within them, while he sat on top, sitting with his back against the wall.

Kept his mouth shut good, let her cry it out.

Sometimes it was needed, he knew. He lit his first cigarette from the pack that Glenn had given him yesterday, lighting it up with a book of matches from his pocket.

It was about an hour before she peaked out at him. "I'm not crazy."

He snorted in laughter. "Didn't say you were."

She huffed at that, sitting up mocking his stance. "I was waiting for you, you know. I was watching the undertaker's house, saw all the walkers going in through the open door. I was so scared, Daryl. I was so scared for you. I still can't believe I ran."

He looked down. What was he supposed to say to that?

"I got pistol whipped, knocked me out cold. He came out of nowhere. Didn't know we were being watched." Beth closed her eyes, lip quivering bravely. "It was a trap. I woke up with my hands and ankles tied together."

She pushed the sleeves up on her sweater, and he saw the angry red lines where her restraints dug into her skin. She had kept them well hidden, this was the first time they had made an appearance, usually hidden beneath the layers of beaded bracelets she adorned. It was easy to pretend that she hadn't gone through anything, when he didn't know. Ignorance was bliss, but he was about to cross that line.

He felt sick.

"I – " she faltered, tears leaking out of her closed eyes. "I had no clothes when I woke up. He – he used me."

Daryl felt what grip he had left on reality slip away to nothingness.

Darkness.

Rage.

"He took that away from me, Daryl." She whispered, her voice was lifeless, strangled. "I didn't have much to offer this new world, but I was keeping that."

The realization knocked the wind out of him. It was hard to breathe, he needed to get out of here – away from her. Away from the anger that pulsed through his body like a disease.

This was too much.

He abruptly stood, felt bad that he made her jump but unable to stop his actions. He briskly walked towards the community, intentions of getting his crossbow and getting _the fuck_ out of here for a while. Back to the woods, where things made sense to him.

…

She remembered crying herself to sleep, remembered watching his wings retreating away from her.

Her face felt tight with dried tears, her nose running as she sat up quickly. It was pitch black now, the thick clouds covering the light of the stars. She couldn't remember falling asleep, but she remembered what had happened in full force. She had told him, had finally gotten the nerve to tell him, and he had _left_.

The hurt was instant.

She shuffled herself so her back was on the wall, like she had been seated when she watched him stalk away from her, not looking back. And she didn't know if she was broken hearted, or relieved. Couldn't distinguish between the two.

On one hand, he must be disgusted with her. She couldn't blame him, after all. Wouldn't bother with her anymore, probably. She could close off the friendship… relationship they had been building. It terrified her, it really did. But it would be good for him, she realized. He had enough to worry about, he didn't need to have her fragileness in the mix too.

But, at that thought, she honestly wasn't sure if she could survive without him anymore. Didn't know if her already broken heart could take the pain of being around him, but not _with_ him.

Rubbing her eyes, she went to stand when something caught her eye beside her.

Sitting directly beside where her head would've been was a can of unopened peaches, the knife he had rescued for her sitting alongside of it.

She cried at the sight.

…

Maggie's eyebrows knitted together as she heard a knock on her front door.

She had been reading by candlelight, everyone else in the house had long since retired for the night. She had sent her bleary eyed husband up not long ago with a promise to be up soon. She had planned on finishing her chapter, and then retiring herself.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see Beth standing there, clutching a can in her hands.

"Hey Beth," Maggie smiled softly. Sometimes, when they spent time apart, Maggie fell back into the reality that her little sister wasn't here – that their arrival yesterday has just been a dream. It was a welcome reminder whenever the blonde came around. "Want to come in?"

Beth shrugged, looking at her boot clad feet. "Being inside four walls freaks me out."

Maggie looked behind her, coming up short. There was something – rather _someone_ – missing. And it was evident because Beth's wide eyes were red rimmed and taunt with distress; a sure tell sign for Maggie that Beth had been crying.

She extended a hand to her sister. "I promise you Beth, nothing will hurt you in here. They'd have to go through me first."

And she meant it, too.

At that Beth let out a watery laugh, tentatively placing her hand in her sisters outstretched one. She breathed deeply, stepping both feet over the doorway, suddenly inside a house. She clutched the peaches to her chest – this wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

Maybe this was even _okay_.

The tiny house didn't remind her of the extravagant farmhouse, didn't remind her of the funeral parlor, or of the barren cabin; didn't remind her of anything at all. It just looked like a house; a normal spot where normal people resided. There were no bad memories here, there wasn't any of her blood and sweat on the floor. She relaxed at that.

Somewhere inside, a barrier broke. She found herself feeling _hopeful_ – something she hadn't felt since she had been pistol whipped on the back of her head. Was taken away from _him_.

She followed Maggie carefully back to the threadbare chesterfield that sat pushed up against a wall. There was an old, long forgotten television that it was pointing to, but the whole scene seemed so _normal_ that Beth was struggling to breathe.

"Whatcha got?" Maggie asked, looking at the can that Beth still clutched loosely to her chest. She rolled the can around in her hands at her sister's words, pulling the knife she had securely attached to her belt out. Maggie's eyes widened at that. "And how do you still have that?"

Beth made quick work of popping the lid off, shrugging her shoulders at the question. "Daryl."

Maggie smiled softly, accepting the peach halve that her little sister was offering to her. Since arriving in Alexandria, Maggie hadn't bothered much with canned food. For one, she was sick of it, and secondly, Alexandria had many gardens and they were even trying to keep the few chickens they had well fed and alive.

Eggs became equivalent to a five course meal back in the old world.

Of course Daryl made sure Beth was okay. Of course he made sure that she had something to eat and something to protect herself with, even though it was unneeded within the sturdy walls. Swallowing her peach, she thought about how much things had changed from the very beginning of this.

Maggie watched as Beth finished off the syrupy juice, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. The Beth sitting in front of her was so different, but Maggie was starting to be okay with it. She was starting to see that this new Beth was someone she could love, just as well as before.

She was _still_ her sister, after all.

Maggie, out of old habit, reached out to softly tuck a strand of Beth's hair behind her ear, but pulled her hand quickly away when her little sister flinched away.

Small steps.

"Would you like a bath?" Maggie asked, tilting her head so she could catch the eyes Beth was diverting to the carpeted floor. It pained her to see her sister still in the same polo she had been in since the prison – and it was no longer yellow. The thin sweater she had given to her back at the store wasn't enough, and Maggie could smell a bit of walker stench. "There's not much hot water, but baths always made you feel better."

Beth thought of that, remembering. She missed that old claw foot bathtub back at the farmhouse; had spent hours upon hours soaking herself in it. It had always been a happy place of hers – one where she could let her tensed muscles unwind and soft lyrics came easily.

Beth didn't want to be, but she was intrigued. "You can bath here?"

And it seemed like such a crazy question, because for so long luxuries were certainly not on the table. Not when basic human needs were starting to feel like luxuries – warmth, sleep, a full belly.

"I'll go run one for you, if you'd like? The sun was strong today so there may be enough hot water. I picked out some smaller clothes of mine for you too." Maggie looked unsure as she stood, waiting for Beth to make the final decision.

Beth's heart flooded with warmth at that, for once an easy smile appeared. "I'd really like that, Maggie."

…

Daryl walked.

Walked and walked and walked.

Walked until he could no longer feel his legs. He walked until he was numb, until he couldn't feel his limbs from the cold, until his nose was red from the weather that was quickly turning bitter. But it was welcome

It had started raining sometime along his journey, the rain mixing with the already wetness of his face.

He'd smoked half the pack Glenn has thrust at him the day before, the dry and aged nicotine not exactly what he was looking for, but it certainly helped to take the edge off.

He'd only come across three walkers since leaving the safe zone, and his hands, arms and chest made it clear that he was out with vengeance. The dead black goo stunk even to his own nose, and he bit back the bile rising in his throat every time he saw one ambling over to him.

It was in his head that he was going to walk the outskirts of the whole community before he'd head back. He walked carefully and quietly on the outer side of the trenches they had dug, and were still digging. They hadn't been there before Rick, the people behind those walls didn't realize what it was truly like out here. There was a few walkers in them, walking around aimlessly, trying to get out without much luck, their moans echoing through the night as he passed.

The things were stupid, he thought, as he walked passed them. They'd get them tomorrow, he wasn't wasting any bolts.

Thought long and hard about what she'd said to him, thought about how he couldn't, how he should've came up with a better split second decision than just telling her to _run_. How he'd been too stupid to check before opening the door and practically letting this all happen. How he'd gotten cocky and just wanted to give her that damn dog.

It was his fault.

She was broken and it was on him.

 **TBC**

 **Thanks for reading, don't forget to review and tell me your thoughts!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Bonus chapter because I've finally decided how I want this story to end, and am about five chapters ahead of myself! Plus, you guys are awesome and I love reading your reviews. Forgive me for this, though.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Ten**

She looked back at the tub she was letting drain, the chilly water dark with the months' worth of filth she had acquired. Maggie apologized when she didn't have shampoo to offer, but the bar of soap she had handed over to Beth had worked just fine.

Her skin was pink, rubbed raw from the prickly washcloth Maggie had provided. And as Beth watched the dirty water drain away, she felt brand new.

Walking to the sink, she caught her reflection in the mirror and she couldn't look away. The person looking back at her wasn't the same person she remembered, the person she had become accustomed to seeing in the mirror. Her skin, much to her teenage delight, had always been clear and milky. She had always avoided being in the sun for too long, and whenever she was she burned like a bright red tomato.

Now, though, her face was a noticeably tanned colour. There were scars dotting her face, small little white flecks. She had a long one, right across her cheekbone that she couldn't recall getting. It must have hurt at the time, she assumed, because when she ran her fingertips over it she could feel the puckered skin.

Spotting a brush that she hoped was Maggie's, she ran it through her blonde locks. It got stuck on the first pull, of course, like it used to when she had been a little girl and neglected it for far too long. Her Mama would click her tongue at her, reminding Beth that if she wanted to keep her long hair, she would have to start looking after it herself.

It had been months even before Mama got sick that she had gotten a haircut, and this had been going on for at least a year now. Hadn't it? Maybe it was two years. It was hard to say as the days and nights became one, their existence blurring into finding food and fighting for survival.

It took her a lot longer than expected to brush through her hair, had to pull hair clumps out of the brush a few times. But oh, when it was done, she felt like she weighted ten pounds less.

She tried to focus on the tasks at hand as she fingered the soft, worn clothes Maggie had laid out for her. But Daryl floated through her thoughts like he had never left, like she hadn't opened up and he left her there feeling childish and unwanted.

And she got it – she did. Knew that through her own tears that he was having his own breakdown on the inside. She could tell it hurt him, just like the man at the cabin had hurt her. He truly blamed himself, and Beth supposed that no matter what she did, he'd feel the same. Sometimes with him, it was better to pick your battles. She'd learned that pretty quick back at the fall of the prison.

The clothes her sister had picked out for her suited Beth just fine. The jeans hung off her hips a little more than she would have liked, but she pulled her belt a little tighter and all would be fine. The belt itself had seen better days, and she'd had to poke a hole in it herself so it would be small enough. The long sleeved shirt was a little prickly, the material had definitely been dragged over a washboard a time or two before, but it was warm and it fit almost perfectly.

She marveled in the comfort of clean underwear and socks, holding them to her chest in appreciation for a moment before she quickly shuffled to get dressed.

Finishing, she examined herself in the hanging mirror for a second. Outside this door stood a lot of things to deal with, but right now all she could think about was being clean for the first time in a long time.

…

Both the can of peaches and her knife were gone by the time he'd deemed fit to return to the walls of Alexandria. At the sight, he let himself relax a fraction.

He'd done a lot of thinking out there, and he wasn't quite ready to give up the silence that had surrounded him since he'd left. He had thought about how his actions would hurt her, he did. So he couldn't say that he didn't expect her to take off at his dismissal of her story.

Which, a dismissal it wasn't, but he could understand why she would think that.

He was just laying his crossbow down when he heard footsteps coming up behind him, and he swiveled around, weapon aimed and ready. After being outside for some time, it was easy to forget that the lone walker wasn't a possibility like it was out there. There were trenches and walls surrounding him – and even though the comfort should be there, it wasn't.

She raised her eyebrows, the arrow aimed at her face not jarring her one bit.

He rolled his eyes at her brazenness, but had to do a double take when his eyes finally adjusted to her features in the darkness of the night. She no longer adorned the stained brown polo, which he knew had once been yellow. Her hair wasn't up in the usual knot, it fell around her shoulders in golden waves as she sat cross legged, mimicking his new position of leaning against the wall. Her legs adorned newly found jeans, and she was snuggled into a light blue sweater with an oversized hood.

As she sat he smelled the soap she had used, an odd scent nowadays. He oddly grimaced at his own stench of walker bile and gunk, when usually he just didn't notice or care.

"I went to Maggie's," Beth explained at her new look. "I feel better, actually."

He grunted, nodded.

"I'm not mad at you, you know." His eyes met hers when she spoke, her gaze heated and passionate. Her voice was all but a whisper. "It's okay, I would run from me if I had the chance, too."

His anger that he had just traipsed out of himself in the surrounding woods came flaring back to the forefront. His nostrils flared, teeth barring. "Came back didn't I?"

She nodded, looking outwards toward the community that he could tell she was growing to accept. "Yeah, you did."

The silence went on, neither of them quite sure what to say or do. The last few weeks between them had been trying, had been eye opening in the fact that they needed each other. No one seemed to question the pair anymore, even though they still gave side glances of curiosity.

Beth watched intently as he scratched the back of his neck, an action she knew that he usually did because he was nervous about what he was about to say. He didn't disappoint, either. "I'm sorry I told ya to run."

She looked at him with squinted eyes.

"At the funeral home," he added at her look, climbing back into himself. Her gaze was heated, had been since they sat down together.

"Surprisingly I would've taken what I did than become walker bait," she shrugged, an edge to her voice she didn't have a moment ago. Something about her response infuriated him. Lit the match to the slow accumulation of gasoline that had resided in his gut for far too long now.

"'S my fault, all of it." He watched her from underneath his hair.

There it was.

Out in the open, wide space surrounding them.

The air was so thick, she could've hauled out her knife and cut it.

She had suspected as much, but he had never verbally expressed it to her before. His eyes flashed as she looked at him, her wide eyes darker than they usually were. Dangerous.

"The only thing that's your fault, Daryl Dixon," she began, and she watched as he prepared himself for what was to come. She let a sad smile cross her face, shaking her head. Sometimes the man sitting in front of her was just a lost little boy, one who was scared to go home and used to rejection. "Is how much I need you."

She closed the space between them quickly at that, lifting his head up so she could easily mesh their lips together. His were chapped and dry underneath her freshly softened ones from the Vaseline Maggie had provided. He tasted of cigarette smoke and something musky – it was his own smell and taste entirely.

It continued on even after she thought it was done, because just when she thought he wasn't going to respond, he did. They hadn't done this before. Their moments never went passed lips brushing against each other's, stolen pecks each time. But this, _oh_ this was different.

For the first time ever, he was letting her in. He was kissing her back with just as much passion as she felt rising within herself. Their tongues danced around each other – _desperate_.

She was about on cloud nine when she pulled herself closer to him, sitting somewhere between in front of him and in his lap. And just as she was about to reach out her arms and let herself _be_ with him, he pulled back in a hurry. Tried to push away from her but with the wall pressing up against his back he was trapped.

Both their lips were swollen, breaths coming out in ragged little puffs. It was over just as fast as it had begun.

She went to move forward again, she wanted to _feel_ whatever _that_ was again, only to be stopped by a shake of his head. He swallowed audibly, not daring to break eye contact. "This ain't right, Beth."

Hurt.

Betrayal.

"What?" She croaked.

"This," he said, his breathing obviously still labored and she could tell he was having a hard time with the emotions that were accompanied with this new situation. "Ain't good for you."

She didn't have the voice to answer, sucking in air desperately. Her lungs ached, the heart that had been racing seconds before almost stopped forever at his words.

He didn't want her.

But even as she said it to herself, she knew he was full of shit. He had to have felt what she just did, didn't he? Was something as passionate and needy as this just all a fragment of her imagination? She suddenly felt like a stupid little girl, pinning after a man twice her age.

Yet with all those thoughts running through her head, her mouth betrayed her. "You're full of shit."

He blanched at the words.

"You're so full of shit because you feel this too, I know you do!" She picked herself up quickly, hair that was usually knotted on the top of her head flying around her face, just as wild as the look in her eyes as she addressed him.

He watched with wide eyes, unable to retaliate because the woman standing in front of him was breathtakingly beautiful and he had just fucked this up royally. She was standing over him by now, her eyes almost breaking through his skin with the piercing blue eyes that had haunted his dreams while she had been taken from him.

And now here he was, with her again, pushing her away.

She tried to watch the emotions on his stoic face, but was unable to because his bang covered his eyes – the only place she could pick up on those things.

"I know I fuckin' do," he hissed, standing up so she no longer towered over him. "You think everyone else don't see it too?"

She was angry.

Angry at him.

Angry at herself.

"Then I don't understand what the problem –"

"The problem," he cut her off, taking a menacing step towards her. But Beth wasn't scared, not of Daryl. "Is that it ain't right."

Something took over inside of her, and she pushed against his chest with the palms of her hands. She didn't have as much strength as she had wished, and he only had to take one step back to counteract the sudden shove she gave him. But something snapped completely inside of her. "You're scared! You keep running away from anything good and then act as if it's everyone else's fault!"

He clenched his fists, watched as she noticed but didn't stand down. He had to give it to her, for being so scared and withdrawn one second she sure knew how to turn the tables. Sure knew how to find the anger inside herself; and in him. "Shut your mouth."

It was harsh. He knew it was harsh, and her eyes widened in what he understood now was hurt.

"You're a coward." She had much less ambition behind her words this time, he noticed, noticed the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. What had he done?

"Beth – "

"Don't."

He watched her walk off, much like he had done to her hours before.

 **TBC**

 **Thanks for reading! Not as long as the previous chapters, but there is more to come soon. Please let me know what you think in a review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I'm going to be honest, I do most of my fictional writing while I am at my professional job (sorry not sorry) – today has been crazy busy but I didn't want to wait any longer to get this chapter out to you. This story has gained a lot more followers and reviewers than I had been anticipating, and it makes this all so worthwhile (not to mention my actual workload has been piling up all day, and I may never get out of the office tonight). Thanks so much!**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Eleven**

A week had passed since Beth had last spoken to Daryl, since she had walked away from their spot on the outer lying walls and hadn't went back. Not that he would have been there anyways, since their argument he had made himself pretty scarce.

She had ran back to her sister's house that night, the tears only falling when her sister once again opened the door and pulled her into her arms. They had stayed on that old chesterfield until the morning sun was visible through the windows, talking about her time in captivity and time alone with Daryl and Michonne, only laughing when Maggie had groaned through her tears that it was going to be a long day at work.

She'd gone with her sister to inventory that day, and she hadn't hated it. Kind of liked the feeling of going to a job every day, how normal everything felt within the walls here in Alexandria. And Maggie was good at her job, Beth realized quickly.

" _We've all got jobs to do."_

She'd been tagging along with her sister for a week, and the older of the two hadn't questioned it. She was thankful for that, she really was. So now that they were once again situated on the old coach, everyone else retired for the evening, Beth looked at her sister thoughtfully.

Maggie was reading a book, one that Glenn had picked up for her on one of their runs.

Here in Alexandria there was a group of people for pretty much everything. Their old group, including Daryl much to her dismay, had been mostly in charge of doing the runs and supply hauls. They were far more experienced with the world out there than most here behind the walls were, and Rick made sure that whoever he sent out was more than capable.

Glenn was in that group, Michonne too.

She knew that each day they left they should be home around sundown, but every day she pressed her face up against Maggie's living room window just to make sure.

He had somehow acquired a bike within the week of them not speaking, and every time Beth saw him ride up on it she was thrown back to the farm era. Where she had watched him ride up to the farm on his brother's old bike, her world never to be the same again.

"Hey, Mags?"

Beth herself was starting to settle down. She still had deep emotional problems, still woke up in the middle of the night with panic seizing her throat muscles. She supposed it was better than the alternative, because she hadn't woken anyone up as of yet. Sometimes she couldn't be inside four walls, sometimes her panic wouldn't relent until she had her back firmly pressed up against one of the outer lying walls. But she was working on herself. Working on looking deep within herself for the person she had been before; a person who still believed in good.

At Beth's voice, Maggie dropped the book from her face and looked up. "Yeah, Bethy?"

"Can we talk?"

Maggie, although Beth could tell was a little surprised, nodded quickly, placing her book on the coffee table that Glenn liked to stretch his legs out on, when he got home in the evenings. "Sure, what's up?"

Beth sucked in a breath. She had been thinking and agonizing over Daryl's and her predicament since the fight had happened. She had wanted it, she had wanted _him_. And he threw it all back in her face, and it didn't look like he had any other motives to correct it anytime soon.

"I…" Beth trailed off, not quite knowing where to even start. Thankfully for her, though, her older sister could still pick up on some things.

"Is this about Daryl?"

Her eyes met Maggie's sharply. She looked down, caught. "Yeah."

Maggie nodded, but let Beth work it out for herself because she didn't speak again.

"We're not talking," Beth whispered, finding interest in one of the threads coming out of the coach cushions. The thing was old ad tattered, and she was scared if she pulled the thread the whole thing may unravel.

Much like herself.

"I've noticed," Maggie nodded, and when Beth showed no signs of speaking up again, she asked the question. "What happened?"

" _This ain't right, Beth."_

"We – " Beth sighed, tugging her knees to her chest, chin finding its home on the top of her kneecaps. "I think I'm in love with him, Maggie."

Shocked, but not entirely speechless, Maggie thought about the unlikely pair. How when she had found her sister after so long that Beth had only been concerned about if he was there or not. She thought about the reunion as everyone watched on in shock and amazement as the forever hardened Daryl Dixon crumbled in front of them all with little Beth Greene in his arms.

Thought about how her reaction to her little sister being in love with a man twice her age, would've been much different mere months ago.

She thought about what Beth had told her, about how much he protected and looked out for her when Maggie couldn't be there for Beth herself. Thought about how Daryl looked at Beth, how Beth looked at Daryl. Thought about how emotionally inept Daryl was.

"Is that why you're not talking?" Maggie asked. "Because he can't love you too?"

Beth shook her head. "No. He doesn't know."

Maggie thought about the man sleeping upstairs, the one who had become known as her husband. They hadn't had a fancy wedding, couldn't in this kind of world. But when they had been separated all she had wanted to do was find him – and if she hadn't, she knew deep in the back of her thoughts that maybe she wouldn't have wanted to survive either.

She knew how Beth was feeling because the look in her eyes when Daryl was mentioned was the same in her own if Glenn was.

"You should tell him."

"I can't just tell him Maggie." Beth looked at her like she had sprouted a second head. "I kissed him and look how that turned out. If I told him I love him he might never talk to me again."

Her older, and apparently wiser sister smiled. "Yeah, but Bethy, maybe he _will_."

…

Daryl was currently making his way back to Alexandria.

They'd just done another successful run, finding a somewhat goldmine in what used to be a department store. They had gone out further than instructed, but didn't figure anyone would complain with everything they were bringing back.

Abraham and Glenn were driving closely behind him in the Hummer that they had found closer to town. He'd made quick work of hotwiring it once they'd found the tank with more than half a tank full of gas, abandoning the old station wagon they had been using. The thing was a gas guzzler but it was big and could potentially fit the whole group in it, albeit it would be a tight fit. People of Alexandria might not be impressed, but he didn't care.

Plus what they really had wanted was something big enough to fill everything they had packed up and taken from the old department store.

The walkers there had been easy targets – the weather was now fully bitter and it seemed that the walkers were affected by it as well as humans. They were slow now, human scent not travelling as far or as fast as it did in the hot summer heat. Most of them had just been standing dormant, rotting flesh falling off with time.

The haul had been good and uneventful. They had five heaping bags of clothes, mostly warmer versions of the clothes they were wearing now, but it was needed with the weather. He'd even picked up a pink snowsuit for Judith that he wasn't even sure she'd need or not.

The preserved food and hunting shops had been the real jackpot, though.

Due to the daunting scene of what was the department store, he figured most survivors didn't dare to venture in there. It was bound to be full of walkers – which it was. He had something to thank the cold weather for, he supposed.

They had a whole garbage bag of plastic sealed nuts and dried berries. Along with that they had come across unopened flour and yeast and everything that they would need to make bread, according to Michonne who had piled everything in the bag with faraway eyes and a sad smile.

The truck was stocked full of canned foods not too far past expiration, and he had searched it like a fool when the others weren't watching. He could feel the dead weight of the can of peaches he had snagged on his back, the only one in the group of mostly beans and pie filing.

It had been a week since he'd last spoken to her – a week since he let himself get close enough for conversation with her. He was angry at himself and how he had handled the situation, mad at himself for making the hurt flash through her eyes.

Mad at himself for pushing her away when he knew deep down she was the only one he ever wanted close.

He knew even before she walked away from him that he was going to need something good to make this up to her.

So that's why he had pushed the limits and cleared out that section of the department store. They'd all thought he was crazy, walking into something like that. But he needed to, he had needed to prove himself to her and this was the only way he knew how – and the others only hesitated a moment before running in after him.

He had searched and searched until he had come across the perfect gift for Beth Greene.

Or, at least what he _hoped_ was the perfect gift.

He'd been wrong before.

…

She was sharpening her knife on the outskirts of the community when he approached her; she could tell it was him even before he spoke by the quietness of his footing.

She was supposed to be at the inventory house with Maggie, but Beth had felt particularly cagey that evening, unable to step foot into another building with four walls when she exited the house she had been sleeping in for a week. Sometimes the panic still became too much, and Beth found herself sitting with her back against an outer lying wall – where she could hear the groan of walkers in the trenches. Could remember what it was still like out there, despite Alexandria trying to make them all forget they were never really safe.

At his presence, she couldn't help but hit her blade off the whetstone Carol had handed over to her a little harder than necessary.

"Sharp 'nough yet?" He asked when he was close enough, and as she looked up she could tell that that was as much of an apology as she was going to get. And yet, it didn't bother her because hearing his voice again after a week of silence was too welcome; was a comforting tune she felt like she hadn't heard in years and years.

But she didn't have to tell him that.

She shrugged her shoulders but shuffled to accommodate him on the blanket she had all but claimed from him. It was hers now, he knew, and he was fine with it. Would give her the shirt off his back if that wouldn't open another can of awkwardness.

"Gettin' there."

Her attention was on her knife sharpening and the repetitive sound did nothing to ease Daryl's frazzled nerve endings. "Beth."

The noise stopped but she didn't look up. "What?"

Her voice was detached and cold, but it was okay by him because he knew that most of the time he sounded the same. He just had to do this now or he may never work up the nerve again.

"Got you something."

At that she turned her head to look at him, eyes squinting in question. She didn't question him though, knew better of it because she could tell by the way he fluttered around that his flight instinct was making this extremely difficult for him.

He opened his sack painfully slow, and Beth watched as he pulled out a can of peaches, holding it out to her but still looking inside of his bag.

She smiled, grasping the can of fruit. "Thank you."

Her eyes were trained on him as his hand froze within the bag he was digging around in, obviously finding what he was looking for. Beth knew that whatever he had gotten was unneeded – she no longer needed material things in her life.

But her eyes lit up as he finally plucked out the unopened bottle of Peach Schnapps, the orange label reminding her of the episode of wanting her first drink. When he had thrown the bottle half way across the room for it to shatter because it wasn't good enough for her 'first drink'.

He shrugged his shoulders at her look, handing it off to her. She graciously took it from him, twisting the lid off and bringing it up to her nose in one motion. "Ain't much."

She smiled at that. "I never did get to try it."

He once again shrugged, looking down at his hands in his lap. "S' gross."

Daryl wasn't watching her until he heard her sputter in disgust, glancing over to her in amusement. She had the back of her hand over her mouth and her face was puckered in distaste. "God, that's awful."

He snorted. "Like moonshine better, huh?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "We'll have to find more of that sometime."

To anyone else, it would have been missed. To an onlooker her statement would have been a moment in passing – something someone says but never intends to fully commit to. But Daryl knew that as she brought the bottle back to her lips that she was forgiving him. Forgiving him for walking away from her, for pushing her away.

She handed the bottle off to him, and even though he already knew what it tasted like, he took it from her. Never liked it much, if at all, but the burning sensation it caused in his throat was something he hadn't experienced since they had burned down that old shack. He welcomed it, just like he had that night. "Shit's rough."

Beth chuckled, graciously accepting it from him as he handed it back. And just like he had been surprised that she'd drank the moonshine, she made no effort to hide the large gulps she was taking.

"Should slow down," he grunted, and when she looked at him like he offended her, she took another long pull from the quart bottle. He rolled his eyes, this woman was infuriating; he couldn't get enough.

They sat in silence until the last rays of the sun disappeared, until there was only half of the quart left that he had brought back. Daryl could tell by her drooping eyes that the alcohol had done its job.

"You know," Beth started, a little bit of a slur to her words, he noticed. "Alexandria is one fucked up place."

Had she not been tipsy, Daryl would have laughed at the vulgar words coming out of her without hesitation. Blowing a puff of air, he bit the bait. "How's that?"

Her eyes gleamed in hatred at his question. For the past few weeks that they had been there, she hadn't said much about it. They hadn't talked about how they viewed their new humble abode, and had fallen into their respected jobs without much argument.

"Everyone is living with their heads up their asses," she replied menacingly. Maybe alcohol wasn't the best option; he should've known that from the last time. He wasn't sure what he would do if she asked him to burn it all down – it was becoming evident he'd do just about anything she wanted. "They don't even know what it's like out there."

Daryl nodded at this.

It was true.

The majority of the people had been in Alexandria since the very beginning. They had no stories or experience like the people in their group had – they had no idea how to defend or protect themselves. The people of Alexandria looked at Rick Grimes' group as if they all had some kind of unattainable warrior skill. And as he looked over at her, he realized that the people here in Alexandria had no idea that it wasn't just the walkers they had to look out for.

Alexandria hadn't been much before Rick showed up.

Upon his arrival, he had gotten wooden beams up on the inside, making their walls much sturdier from the outside – knowing the brute force behind a herd of walkers. He had a crew digging trenches, had a rotation for watch. Rick had made Alexandria what it was, and all the people in here could do was complain that there were people running around with guns.

They really just didn't get it.

"Someday this place is going to be overrun," Beth shrugged, looking thoughtful if not mystified. "Just like everywhere else."

Although he wanted the old Beth back, the one who would've been hopeful and excited about the safe zone, he knew she was right.

"We'll make it." He told her, and it was a statement – no underlying question.

"Let's get drunk," she nodded at what was left in the bottle, looking up at him for the first time since he'd handed the thick alcohol over to her.

And be damned if could he say no to that face.

 **TBC**

 **Am I forgiven for the last few chapters? Please let me know and thanks for reading.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: I could never say thank you enough to show how much I truly appreciate reading your feedback. Kind of a filler chapter, but there is action none the less!**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Twelve**

The next morning Beth awoke with a dull ache in her head.

She had yet to open her eyes, but she could tell by how her head seemed to swim that it wasn't going to be a pleasant morning. Taking in her surroundings with her other senses, she realized that by the clanging of utensils against plates downstairs that she was most likely at Maggie's.

She moved an inch, instantly regretting the movement. She was in bed, the bed that she had claimed for her own here in Alexandria. The sheets Maggie had given her were soft and worn, and usually comforting. But there was nothing comforting about this morning.

Moving her limps, she realized that one of her feet were planted to the floor below her, half of her bottom half hanging off the bed.

She was suddenly thrown back to a time where things had been much simpler.

" _Maggie!" An eleven year old Beth Greene raced into her older sister's room, it was early, but here on the Greene farm everyone was expected to be early risers. Mama had sent her up to fetch her older sister for breakfast, a meal that Annette Greene refused to let anyone skip, but Beth stopped short upon seeing her sister. Half of her body hanging off her bed, the expensive silk sheets she had begged Daddy for tangled around her and the deep crimson comforter. "Maggie?"_

 _Maggie's foot was planted firmly to the wooden floor of her bedroom, and she groaned as the light shone in due to the open door. Beth went to the window, drew back the curtains and cracked the window. It stinks in here._

" _Ugh, Bethy it's early."_

" _It's almost nine, Mags! Why are you hanging off the bed?" Beth asked in her innocence, not fully understanding why her sister was having a hard time getting out of bed. Maybe she was sick? Maybe she should go get Mama?_

 _But when little Beth had revealed to her older sister that she was going to fetch their parents, Maggie grabbed her passing arm in a panic. "I'm not sick, I'm hung over Beth. Please don't tell Daddy!"_

" _Oh," Beth had said, still not fully understanding but knowing enough about alcohol and what it did to one's body to be upset with her sister. Even Daddy himself could no longer drink – and he would be so mad at her older sister. But Maggie knew as well as Beth did that sometimes sisters kept secrets – and this was without a doubt one of those secrets. Maggie continued on in her scratchy voice, explaining that if she had one foot planted to the floor that she wouldn't feel dizzy, that it helped anchor her swimming head._

 _That was, until Maggie starting vomiting and Beth let herself out, telling herself that she would never do anything of the sort._

Finally allowing herself to open her eyes, she was met with a fresh wave of nausea.

She was definitely back at Maggie and Glenn's. But the question was, how did she get here and why doesn't she remember anything?

Moving another inch, it finally dawned on her that she was clutching something in her arm that wasn't hanging off the bed. She had a dead grip on the thing. It was cold and hard – and when she looked down she almost let her stomach lurch at the sight. She was clutching none other than the glass bottle of Peach Schnapps, which happened to be empty.

Her current condition was slowly beginning to make sense.

Trying to get a grip on reality, she forced her swimming mind to remember something – anything.

" _Greene, yer drunk."_

" _I'm takin' a piss, I can't hear you!" She yelled, but her words were accompanied with a string of giggles and he rolled his eyes at her use of his own words against him. He looked around for curious eyes, and was relieved when he couldn't see anyone looking out their windows at the noise. They were far away from the dwellings in Alexandria, even past the chicken coop and gardens, settled on their blankets, backs against the outer lying walls._

 _She was nowhere near the action of going to relieve herself, and Daryl wasn't quite sure that she would even be able to get up. They had successfully finished off the quart of Peach Schnapps together, and he could already feel his gut curdling. And he hadn't drank the majority of it, either._

 _She hiccupped._

 _He rolled his eyes again._

She looked wildly around for a garbage can, and was majorly relieved when she discovered that one was sitting at the foot of her bed – waiting for her. Whoever had put her here knew she would need one.

" _I like Peach Schnapps," she stated, and Daryl held back a snort as he watched her clutch the empty glass bottle, holding it like she would hold Judith, pressing herself on to his side._

" _Yeah? We'll see 'bout that tomorrow," he answered her, standing up from their spot on the outer lying wall to put some space between them. It was cold, and he made sure he threw a bit more blanket on to Beth. She was nothing but skin and bone; the last thing he needed tonight was for her to come down with hypothermia._

" _Why don't you want to be near me?" Beth snapped suddenly, her blue eyes ablaze as his attention whirled back to her. He was caught off guard with the insinuation, and he wondered where the happy go lucky Beth had just disappeared to._

 _Since their reunion, Daryl quickly became aware of her newly found personality. It was either black or white with Beth Greene – there was no grey._

 _The thing was, he never liked to be touched in the first place. But he had fallen into a sort of routine with her, and he knew that she wasn't going to take any of his shit excuses. Knew that she would call him out on it._

 _She stood as well, and he had to admit that he was a little impressed she hadn't toppled over. She didn't stray too far from the security of the wall to hold onto, but she took a step to where he stood. "Is that what it is? You think I'm just a kid?"_

 _He suddenly knew what she was on about._

" _Hello!" She all but yelled when he didn't respond. "Can you hear me?"_

" _Beth, you gotta be quiet," he tried to calm her down, placed a hand on her elbow._

 _But it was no use._

 _She snatched her arm back from him, looking up at him as if he had just stung her. She continued on walking, following the wall that got closer to the dwellings of Alexandria, a direction he didn't particularly want to venture to with a drunk, loud Beth._

" _I ain't gotta do anything, I'm not yours!" She told him, defiance written clear across her face and actions. She turned around to face him, hands stuck on her protruding hipbones but she swayed and had her steady herself with a hand on the wall. "You made that pretty clear."_

 _He blanched._

 _She was drunk, he knew. But drunk talk was sober thoughts._

 _Daryl didn't say anything, and he watched as she threw her hands up in frustration. Her eyes were wild, although clouded. "So don't tell me what to do."_

 _He had just about enough of this._

" _What do you want Beth?" He yelled, forgetting his own words to stay quiet only seconds ago. She stilled at his comeback, but he really was exasperated. He knew this was about their kiss a week ago, knew that he just didn't have what she was looking for. Knew he had let it go on for longer than he should have._

" _You. I love you." She looked baffled, hurt shining clearly in her eyes, and she did nothing to hide it. She hiccupped._

 _Merle hooted and hollered in his head, his own thoughts becoming muddled. No one had ever loved him before, and fuck if they had they certainly didn't say as much. And here was Beth Greene, the epitome of all that was good left in this world, telling someone as calloused and dark as himself she loved him._

 _He didn't deserve her love._

 _Couldn't._

" _Ya don't love me."_

 _She gave out an angry yell, stalking so she was right in front of him. "You don't get it."_

 _In the back of his mind, he wondered if she was going to shove him again._

 _He closed his eyes as she slowly got closer, just like she had before. He took a deep breath, and all he could smell was her scent. It was famously alive. He felt her feet come to a halt right in front of his, the distance between them could be easily diminished._

 _He kept his eyes closed and his head up. He couldn't look at her, because if he did, he wouldn't be able to fight this off any longer. "Beth, you're drunk, you don't – "_

 _She cut him off with a click of her tongue._

 _He opened his eyes, glaring down at her for the interruption._

" _You can't tell me that I don't love you, Daryl Dixon. It's stupid, I know. You don't want someone like me," she looked down at herself dejectedly, poking and prodding at the particular places she wasn't fond of in her drunken daze. The drink coursed through her veins with a warm hum, welcome. "Can't say I blame you."_

 _Beth heard Daryl take in another gasp of air before he grabbed her face. Her back was suddenly against the outer lying wall of Alexandria, and she didn't even flinch at the sudden movement, once again thanking the foul tasting Schnapps that was giving her liquid courage._

 _How dare she say something like that? She was everything to him – there wasn't anyone out there who wouldn't want someone like her. Thoughts swirled around in his head so fast he felt lightheaded, was he really going to do this?_

" _I don't know how to do this," he confided, looking down and away from her eyes. He made the notion to drop his hands off her face when he noticed what he was doing, but she retaliated and defiantly held her smaller hands over his._

" _Who does?" She asked, voice small. She brushed his bangs away from his face, and smiled a little at his shielded eyes. "But I do know that when I was taken away from you, all I could think about is what could've happened. About how I needed to get back to you."_

 _Daryl sucked in a breath, he had been thinking the same thing before she'd been taken from him. He would have stayed there in that funeral home with her until she was ready to leave; he would've listened to her sing and play that piano until he couldn't any longer. He would've done a lot of things, he realized, if it meant having her beside him._

" _Daryl, please," she whispered, closing her eyes as he stood stoic. "Please help me forget."_

…

Daryl was currently outside the walls, shovel in hand and sweat pouring down his back.

It was winter, and snow was not uncommon here in Alexandria during the winter months. Rick had long since put the trench digging on hold, the ground frozen and hard. But that didn't stop him – he was out here for one reason and that was to dig.

He needed to be alone at the moment, and digging was about the only place he could think. He'd thought about going hunting, had even suggested it to Rick – but then Michonne had asked if she could come and he didn't want to crush her, because back on their week together after the convenient store, Michonne had showed interest in hunting. Thought briefly on teaching her, too, until Alexandria.

So he changed his mind, and offered her to come help dig trenches with him instead, to which she politely refused. Which had been the plan because all Daryl Dixon needed right now was solitude.

Needed to be as far away from everyone as he could – needed to be back outside the walls of Alexandria. He needed to breathe. He needed space from _her_.

" _Daryl, please," she whispered, closing her eyes as he stood stoic. "Please help me forget."_

 _And at that, he kissed her._

 _It wasn't quick or full of desire, it wasn't passionate or needy. As their lips mingled it was slow, a feeling of relief that passed over the both of them – a feeling of finally being home. She realized that as long as he was around, maybe she didn't need a permanent home. Because he was just that, for her._

 _Whenever they were together it was like she could breathe._

 _And oh, when he kissed her, she could fly._

 _The kiss ended almost as sudden as it began, and her vision darkened around the edges just enough to tell her that he had probably came up for air. She pressed her forehead to his, and for the first time since they had been reunited, he stayed right where she wanted him to._

He'd been stupid.

When he woke this morning, he had such a headache that it took him a moment to figure out where he was. His mouth was dry, and his eyes felt sunken in – a telltale sign that he was in fact nursing a hangover.

And then it all came crashing down around him, his foggy memories from the night before. And it certainly didn't help that when he looked up, and realized that he was still sleeping on the floor of Beth Greene's bedroom.

His first thought had been how he was going to escape without being noticed, and his second was how absolutely breathtakingly beautiful Beth was.

He'd scrambled out of there on the second thought, sure that he had woken the whole house in his paranoia, but no one had come after him and for that he was grateful. He wasn't exactly itching to come face to face with Maggie's temper and protectiveness that morning.

And now he was digging, the Earth below him frozen and hard.

" _Shit Beth, you gotta be quiet," he hushed her. They were in the middle of the housing area, where he was currently holding onto her like a sack of potatoes over his arm._

 _She laughed again. "I can't!"_

 _He breathed in through his nose to calm himself down, and kept his eyes open for lights appearing in the surround windows. He hated this feeling – the feeling of having to hide from hundreds of peering eyes here in Alexandria. It felt like he was thrown back into the world before it had ended, and in that world men like himself definitely didn't carry women like Beth down the street in the wee hours of the morning._

 _She still clutched the empty glass alcohol bottle to her chest, and if he wasn't so alert and on high guard he would have smirked at her. This one was motherly, sober or drunk, baby or bottle._

" _It's like the funeral home," she hiccupped, and he was suddenly thrown back into the time where he had carried her like this before. But this time was different, he told himself, and this time he was going to drop her off in a comfortable bed with her sister and brother in law sleeping in a few rooms over._

 _She would be fine, he told himself, but as he walked up the stairs quietly to where her bedroom was, he had a hard time leaving. He watched as she planted a foot to the floor like she had done this a million times before, and within seconds she was out – still clutching the bottle._

 _He turned to leave, he really did. But something was nagging at the back of his drunken haze, and he suddenly wasn't sure he could stand to leave her. Not since the last time he had told her to run she had disappeared, had been taken away from him._

 _So he settled himself on the floor of her bedroom with only a moment's hesitation, the hardness of the floor not bothering him one bit. And he was out just as quick as she had been, knowing she was sleeping peacefully beside him._

 **TBC**

 **Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: I'm not impressed with this chapter. I've been trying to tweak it for weeks, and I'm still not really happy with it (hence the longer than usual wait). I'm a perfectionist to a fault, and I know that I may never be fully satisfied – that's why I posted.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

He had gotten about two meters of digging in the frozen ground before she approached him. And the only thing he could think of saying when he caught sight of her, he knew, wasn't what she would want him to say after last night. If she even remembered last night.

"Shouldn't be out 'ere."

She looked a little crestfallen at his greeting, but seemed to push on in a happy stride, choosing to ignore his comment. "Common, I want to show you something."

He narrowed his eyes at her, ticked that she had just ignored his bad mood vibes and continued to walk further into the woods. And be damned if he was going to watch her walk off and not follow, especially when he wasn't sure if she had a weapon or not.

He easily picked up his crossbow, loaded a bolt and followed after her, mood turning sourer with each step he took.

…

He looked at the small clearing she had led him to, a little impressed that she could locate such a spot by herself. He had been showing her some things back when they were together, but he hadn't been aware she even came out here alone. And the thought made his anger flare like a hot poker being pressed onto his chest.

They came to a small little creek that looked relatively clean, the water making splashing noises as it rushed over the smoothed out rocks. She looked to him for his approval.

He nodded, looking around with heightened senses. It was true, and as long as he kept an eye and ear open they should be fine to stay here for a while. They had only come across two walkers on their way here, and both had gone down wordlessly and effortlessly.

It was as cold as it would probably get now, and Daryl was glad to see that Beth had dressed for the weather. They both had a few layers on, their breaths coming out in little clouds when they hit the frigid air. He was beginning to become chilled due to his sweating from digging.

He found himself craving a cigarette, would have to search for some on their next run.

She sat on a protruding rock, patting the side beside her. She obviously wanted to be with him last night, but what if her mind had changed from the lack of alcohol running through her system? The insecurities running through his thoughts were endless. Did he want to be with her?

He cringed internally.

Daryl settled himself on the spot she had patted, but he perched himself noticeably away from her. She was quiet, had been the whole walk to get here. She hadn't spoken to him since she had told him to follow, and his nerves were frazzled ends. So when she did speak up, it was loud and foreign.

"I've never…" she trailed off, looking around her for a moment. "I've never willingly gave myself to anyone."

He closed his eyes, the heaviness of her revelation no lesser because he was already aware. Wasn't any lesser because she was bringing up the stupid drinking game she'd insisted they play before. He allowed her to crawl closer to him, allowed her to paw his face in her direction.

"Do you want me?" She asked, and when he opened his eyes in bewilderment and alarm, she shied away from him. Her wide blue eyes were trained on him, not moving an inch away from his face as she awaited her answer.

How could he say yes to her? How could he say _no_?

He was a grown man for Christ's sakes, of _course_ those thoughts had ran through his mind before, and not to mention that he'd woken up some morning's thankful that he was an early riser. He hadn't had those thoughts since he was a teenager, and definitely not since the end of the world. But she changed everything and their compromising positions and stolen kisses was making his body react in such a way he had always been ashamed of.

After knowing everything she went though, after knowing that someone took that away from her – how was he supposed to make this better?

Couldn't, he knew.

Thought about his own 'first time' bullshit story. Thought about the woman Merle had paid to 'make his little brother a man', about how sleazy and uncommitted she had been. Thought about how he had just wanted to get it over with and shut his brother up. Thought about how terrible it had been, knew that the memory of hers was a thousand times worse.

"Beth – "

"Wait," she cut him off, sitting up a little straighter, facing him. "Before you say anything, I just want you to know that I'm okay. I'm not letting that monster take anything else from me. I –"

He watched as she looked down, playing with the tips of her fingers.

"I just want you to know that I wanted this; wanted this way before I was taken and ruined."

He wished he knew what to say, wished he had the words like she did. He wished he could open his mouth and everything he was feeling would come out, but he couldn't. He just wasn't wired that way, and in true Dixon fashion, he floundered.

"Ain't ruined," he finally settled on saying, relief washing over him as her face began to regain its colour. "You deserve better."

She rolled her eyes at that, and Daryl narrowed his.

Beth took into account that the man sitting in front of her really didn't know how appreciated and loved he was – and not just by her. The whole group would be forever in debt to Daryl Dixon, hell none of them would have survived that first winter without him. He didn't think she was washed up, already used, and for some reason that revelation brought her more comfort than she had thought it could.

"Do you want me, Daryl?" She asked again, deciding to ignore his comment. "It's a yes or no question. Because I want you."

Silence.

Silence.

"Yeah." He was a beat longer than she would have liked, but eventually he nodded.

She smiled shyly, and he gave her as much as a smile as he was capable of. There was something about both of them admitting their feelings to each other that exhilarated her pulse, made things seem much more vibrant than they had for a long while. She felt _alive_. She felt _real_.

Beth was brazen enough to test the waters, and was massively impressed when he allowed her to draw herself to him, his arm coming around her back to hold her into place. They sat like that for a while, basking in the feeling of comfort that the other provided.

"You." He whispered when all was quiet and all that could be heard was the rushing of water in the stream. "You were the one, changed my mind."

" _Oh."_

"Oh."

He rolled his eyes at her answer, but smiled back when he caught sight of her wide grin. She knew this whole time what he had been trying to convey back at the funeral home, and maybe he hd

"Don't get cocky, Greene," he teased, and was enlightened when he managed to get a small laugh out of her.

…

When they arrived back to Alexandria hand in hand, Maggie Rhee was standing at the gate, eyes searching until they landed on the pair.

Maggie smiled at seeing their hands clasped together, but was also aware that she needed her sister more than anyone right now.

The young boy at the gate opened it for them after Daryl gave him a nod, and Maggie couldn't hold herself back anymore as she raced to her sister. Tears threatened to fall down her face, and she understood why both Beth and Daryl were giving her strange looks as she found a home on her little sister's shoulder.

But she couldn't help it right at the moment.

Daryl stood back, awkwardly hanging around when Beth knew that he wanted to get as far away from a sobbing Maggie as he could. Her older sister's outburst came out of nowhere, and she was starting to become a little concerned. "Mags what's wrong?"

Having her little sister around only opened the floodgates even more.

Beth patted her back reassuringly like she would to Judith, and looked once again to Daryl. He was slowly inching away and she smiled at him, letting him know it was okay to leave and she would catch up with him later.

He nodded, looking at her for a long moment before turning around and hightailing it out of there.

Once Daryl was out of sight, Beth concentrated back on her blubbering sister. "Common Maggie, what's wrong?"

"Oh Bethy," Maggie cried, trying to get a grip back on herself. She needed to pull herself together, at least until they got back to the house where they would have some privacy. "I'm so sorry I interrupted you two."

Beth looked at her older sister with an intuitive eye. They had spent enough of their childhood together for Beth to pick up on the seriousness of her sister's outburst. Maggie didn't just cry about anything, and Beth felt her throat tighten in panic. "Let's go back to the house."

So that's what they did, what was left of the Greene family made their way back to the dwelling they resided in, and Maggie hauled Beth into the room that she shared with Glenn. He was currently out on a run, and Maggie was starting to think that he would have to change his job. It was becoming too stressful for her, and since this morning she knew why.

Maggie thanked her lucky stars that she worked in the inventory house and could usually take things that went unnoticed. And that's how she'd gotten the little stick that had two pink lines on it.

Positive.

She handed the offending object over to Beth, whose eyes grew wide as saucers.

Maggie collapsed on the bed in tears, throwing a pillow over her head. Beth sat down just as heavily on what she assumed was Glenn's side of the bed, her mind swirling.

She was so caught up in the memory of the prison that she couldn't even comfort her bawling sister.

Lori.

Lori, who had gotten pregnant while they had been on the road, Lori who had given birth in the prison before it was even fully cleared, and Lori who Maggie had to slice open to save Judith. Lori, who had died in child labor.

And now here Maggie was, pregnant.

…

Beth was running, she wasn't quite sure where but her feet were taking her.

As Maggie had finally drifted off into a fitful sleep, Beth had hightailed it out of there as fast as she could. Her older sister was terrified, and rightfully so. Maggie had been the one to deliver Judith – she had seen firsthand what she had gotten herself into.

And Beth could feel the Peach Schnapps still rolling around in her stomach, curdling.

It didn't take her long to realize that her feet were taking her to Aaron and Eric's house, where she knew that Daryl stayed but had yet to venture to. She still wasn't good at being closed off from the outside world, and Maggie's house and the inventory house had been the only places she dared to go in to.

She realized that she needed someone, and that someone had to be him.

She needed someone to open up to, to confirm all her fears and thoughts running through her head about her sister. Because where Beth and Maggie hadn't exactly been on the best of terms before Alexandria, Beth knew now that she couldn't – wouldn't be able to handle losing her sister.

Maggie was the only blood Beth had left, and as she leaped up to the top step of Aaron's house, she felt her heart knock around her chest for her Daddy. He would know what to do, he would've been able to calm Maggie down. He wouldn't been able to reassure to not only her pregnant sister, but her as well that things would be okay.

But how could she possibly know everything would be okay?

She had prayed and hoped Lori would be okay, too. And look how that had turned out.

Judith, motherless. Carl, motherless. Rick, wifeless.

Beth knocked on the door before she could tell herself not to, and was slightly relieved when it was Daryl himself, arms full of grease and clutching a wrench, who opened the door for her. He looked confused until he noticed the tears streaming down her face, and then his face turned to stone.

"'S wrong?"

She couldn't help herself any longer, and she wound her arms around his midsection.

And Daryl once again found himself carrying her, only this time it was to the garage where he had been working on his new bike, tuning it just the way he wanted it. As he sat her down on the bench seat, closing the garage door softly behind him, her tear ducts opened fully.

"Maggie's pregnant," she whispered as he came to her, and as she burrowed her face into his neck, his first thought was Lori.

…

Rick had called a meeting the next evening, for everyone from the prison group and Beth couldn't say she was surprised.

The news had spread like wildfire, especially when Glenn heard the news. His face was suddenly in a permanent state of worry, and Beth had noticed that he hadn't gone on a run that day, finding both of them curled up on the old chesterfield that morning. Maggie had had a tear stained face and Glenn had been murmuring words of comfort in her ear.

Beth had watched on for far longer than she should have that morning, but a feeling of comfort washed over her when her bother in law had placed a hand on her sister's tummy, looking directly in Maggie's eyes and telling her that he would make this okay.

He'd make this okay because Maggie was his everything – and that hadn't been the first time Beth had overheard Glenn telling her sister that.

And now the remaining prison group, which was smaller than anyone liked to remember, was settled around Rick's living room furniture and floor, Beth sitting beside Daryl in anticipation for this 'meeting' to begin.

Rick went on to talk about how things here in Alexandria were completely different than that of the prison. He was quick to reassure everyone that there was a doctor here, there was someone who knew what they were doing, there were supplies, and without saying as much he comforted them all to believe that this wouldn't be like Judith's birth. They weren't going to lose Maggie like they had lost Lori.

It was when Rick had stopped talking and introduced Maggie to her new doctor that it was suddenly okay to celebrate.

Life went on, even in the end.

Glenn got numerous pats on his back, and Maggie hugged everyone who came up to her. The couple was so involved in their congratulations that they missed when Beth and Daryl slipped out into the night.

"What do you think?" Beth asked, shivering as the winter air hit her.

Daryl shrugged.

Beth nodded in agreement at his indifference. "I'm worried."

"Mm," he agreed. And that was all that was said about this issue.

 **TBC**

 **Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry this has taken so long, but I changed the way I wanted to end this story and that means I had to discard a lot of chapters that I had already written. I've never changed my mind about a story so much before. That being said, I'd like to thank readers who have stuck with me and continue to review each time. You guys are the reason I do this.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

Weeks went on within the walls in Alexandria.

Beth woke up every morning in the bed at Maggie's house to the cool air hitting her face, her nose cold and runny from the bitterness of the season. It was full blown winter by now, and every morning she rushed to the window to see if snow had fallen from the sky.

Because snow meant water, and that meant Beth would be outside collecting the white fluffiness all day instead of the inventory house she was becoming accustomed to.

It took a lot of self-discipline to be within four walls day in and day out, but she was slowly getting it through her head that she was safe – that there were hundreds of _living_ humans around that were _good_ people.

And she once again felt herself beginning to have faith.

That morning in particular, there was a thin layer of freshly fallen snow, and she smiled to herself. Perhaps the best thing about shoveling snow all day is that Daryl Dixon also got the day off from his run duty.

She made quick work in the bathroom that morning, hearing the door open and close before there were greetings and good mornings on the floor below her. She rushed to pull the brush through her hair, tugging on her snug boots before bounding down the stairs of her sister's house.

Upon arrival in the kitchen Beth was greeted with the smell of eggs cooking and dry bread toasting. It was a pleasant smell, something that she was beginning to get used to again. She smiled at her sister who stood over the propane stove of their kitchen, waving her spatula in greeting. Maggie's stomach had a tiny bulge, and the doctor here had been quite sure Maggie was further along than she had originally suspected.

Apparently her sister was somewhere close to three months along, and so far so good.

Looking into the living room where the fire was at full potential, she caught sight of the person she had rushed to see. He was sitting directly in front of the fire, back to her. Beth knew that he had been on watch the night before, the guard tower here in Alexandria not providing any warmth besides the clothes on your back. There were hundreds of other people to take watch, but he insisted. So she didn't protest.

She knew he must be tired, because as she slid up to him he didn't even turn his head.

They had fell into whatever this was – whatever anyone wanted to call it. To Beth and Daryl, there didn't need to be a title. They were each other's, and no one questioned it. There was no reason to question it; it was clear to everyone that they were nearly inseparable and a force to be reckoned with.

He had started visiting her in the mornings here at the Greene residence, most mornings sitting before the fire to try and get some warmth. The weather outside was as cold as he had ever experienced, but then he thought about how he had never really been out of Georgia before this, either.

"Mornin," she sighed, leaning her head softly on one of his protruding shoulders. Things were still tentative about them, they hadn't crossed any boundaries, and Beth was beginning to think that they never would.

It was frustrating, too.

She'd gone through things, yes. Terrible things she didn't like to remember – things that would always be apparent in her mannerisms. Sometimes she woke with panic of being back in that cabin, and her throat would seize painfully. Sometimes she couldn't even look anyone in the eye. But that didn't mean she wanted Daryl to keep her at arm's length at all times.

This was her choice – she _wanted_ to be with Daryl.

But he didn't see it the same way. He never allowed them to get past a kiss, never let her wandering hands go anywhere past his shoulders. And God forbid if he were to stay the night with her here at Maggie's, always retreating back to Aaron and Eric's with promises he'd see her in the morning.

She understood taking it slow, but this was driving her insane. She had always been a touchy person, taking comfort in personal touch. Beth couldn't quite comprehend that to him, physical touch wasn't welcome.

So she held back, at least as much as she could.

"Mm," he mumbled, taking the hands that she had placed in his lap into his own. Rubbing their hands together, outstretched towards the growing fire. "S' cold."

She nodded with her agreement.

…

Daryl sat up in the watch tower that evening, looking around.

From the inside of the tower, it was hard to tell the difference between being at the prison and Alexandria. Sometimes it played with his mind, and he had to ground himself to reality by looking out over the place they now resided.

They were far passed the prison era – far passed even the string of unfortunate events that took place after the fall of the only place he'd ever really called home. He'd failed back then, failed to protect Beth, failed to keep his family safe.

But this time around, he knew, he wouldn't fail.

Couldn't.

It had to have been around three months since they had found the outer lying walls of Alexandria, the week on the road with Beth and Michonne feeling like another lifetime. They had settled here without much of a say – it was now clear to not only him, that Rick wasn't planning on going anywhere. And in the back of his mind, he got it. He did. Carl and Judith had every right to be in a place like this, had every right to the childhood that had been stripped away from them – Daryl knew Rick wouldn't move them from this.

So for the meantime, they were stuck.

 _They were walking through the village of Alexandria, the only sound between the two was the stick that Rick had acquired and began to use as a walking stick._

 _Step, step, thwack._

 _Step, step, thwack._

 _Daryl knew Rick was making his way to the front gate to check on walker count like he did every morning, and he followed because this morning in particular, Rick had asked him tag along with him for the day. Daryl hadn't been exactly sure why at the time, but now that they were walking together it was beginning to make sense._

" _So," Rick started when they were far enough away that curious ears wouldn't hear them, just like Daryl had anticipated. "You 'n Beth."_

 _It had been a long time coming, he knew, for someone to ask about the anything but friendly relationship that he had been building with Beth. It wasn't hard to see that they were a unit – wherever he went, she was not far behind – he made sure of it._

 _But as Rick finally asked the question that he had been deliberately avoiding from anyone, he really didn't know how to answer. Him and Beth. What about them? "Mm."_

 _But unlike most, Rick wasn't fazed by his grunts and cold demur._

" _Must be getting serious by now," Rick stated, trying to stay casual but Daryl could see his eyes darting between his face and the wall they were slowly approaching. Rick must have noticed the look that had come across Daryl's face because he was quick to push on._

" _I don't need to lecture you two like Maggie and Glenn," Rick paused, stopping and turning to face Daryl with his hands up in mock surrender. "But I want you to know that it's not easy having someone out here with you."_

 _Daryl looked at Rick – really looked._

 _Since arriving here, Rick and Michonne had become pretty cozy. It seemed like the father of two was slowly beginning to live again, but no one could really forget. No one could really forget what had happened to Rick's mental state when his wife hadn't made it._

 _And what about it? He knew more than anyone how it felt to have things ripped away from him, whether he tried to fight back or not. And suddenly all he could see is that black car with the white cross and he had to shake his head – Beth was here, she was only a few seconds away in Rick's house with Judith, Carol and Michonne, she was safe._

" _Not looking for easy," Daryl finally settled on saying, eyeing Rick with narrowed eyes. And just like he had suspected, Rick nodded and continued on his journey to the gate as if the conversation hadn't just occurred._

He rolled the cold piece of metal around his fingers, the thing sparkling in his hand when it hit the light from the moon just right.

Not tonight, but soon.

 _They were driving an old Escape with the back full when he knew, now was the time._

 _The run they had successfully – so far – pulled off, was a big one. They were about an hour out, and he didn't like to count his chickens before they were hatched._

 _They had hit up an old gardening center, and they had brought back tons of old farming machinery that had been on display as antiques back before the world ended. The old hunks of metal were, he assumed, what farming must have been like before the people of the old world got greedy, before farming equipment became modernized and the basics became antiques._

 _As soon as he laid eyes on it, he knew they were bringing it all back._

 _They also recovered tons of seed packages, a package of mostly every kind of vegetable and herb you could ever want to grow. People that were still surviving in this new world wouldn't usually think to go into a place like this – most people were still stuck in the thought that someday everything would miraculously go back to the way things had been. And that's why they had first pick on everything._

 _He'd even picked up a package of yellow daffodil seeds for Beth, not knowing if she liked the particular flower or not, but yellow reminded him of her, and he knew that she would appreciate the small gesture. She was slowly starting to see the little things again – he'd brought her back a chocolate bar once and he thought her face was going to split in half from the smile she gave him._

 _And in that moment in particular, Daryl knew he wanted to see that smile every day for the rest of his life._

 _Glenn was looking out the passenger side window when Daryl grunted, effectively gaining his attention. But Daryl faltered, his grip on the steering wheel increasing until every knuckle on his hands were white with pressure._

 _Glenn watched on, not really understanding. "What?"_

 _Daryl huffed. "Got somethin' to ask, but I know how big your mouth is."_

 _He watched as the other man crossed his arms with a harmless scowl on his face, looking ahead out the windshield. There was the occasional walker on the side of the road, but he easily swerved to miss them, the road wide open from both directions._

" _I can keep secrets," Glenn insisted._

 _Daryl grunted, "Yeah well this is big."_

 _He could tell when the man sitting in the passenger seat became intrigued, not saying anything but looking at Daryl now, opposed to staring out the window. Daryl wasn't one to talk a lot, wasn't one to go around claiming he had a secret he was about to reveal. No wonder the guy was acting surprised._

 _He sighed, not knowing where to start or how to do this. Thank fuck they had over an hour to go to get back._

"Hey."

He was startled out of his thoughts, head whipping behind him to where she now stood at the top of the landing to the guard tower. He hadn't been expecting her, wasn't really sure how she knew he was on watch tonight – he hadn't told her. He had wished her a goodnight with a promise to come over tomorrow morning, then nodded as she tucked herself in while he let himself out.

"What're you doing?"

She shrugged, coming to sit beside him on the bench that had been made specifically for watching the perimeter at night. The thing was uncomfortable and impossible to fall asleep on. "Couldn't sleep."

"'S cold out here," he told her, as if she couldn't feel the bite in the air herself. And at his words, she hauled out a blanket from the basket she had brought along, of which he had missed completely at first sight of her. She also hauled out a package of dried cranberries, a water bottle and a can of unopened peaches.

Of course she would come prepared, this was Beth. She knew he would try to send her back inside where he had made sure the fire was fully stoked before leaving, she knew that he wouldn't be keen on letting her keep him company while he was trying to keep watch over the whole of Alexandria.

Noticed her knife he had recovered for her hanging off her belt, too. This was his girl they were talking about, after all.

And that thought had his mind swimming as she cocooned them both in the blanket she had brought; one of the ones that he had since reuniting with the group. It had been washed, but it still faintly smelled of woods.

Since when did he, Daryl Dixon, have the right to call Beth Greene _his_ girl?

Yet here she was, blonde head resting on his shoulder, the blanket that she had around them was keeping their body heat together. He felt brazen for a moment, and tucked his own arm around her, to which she only burrowed further into his side. Sometimes he really had to remember that she did want this – had to remember that their conversations and brief lingering touches weren't just screwed thoughts his own mind had sickly created.

"It's beautiful out tonight," she whispered, staring longingly at the stars and moon that shone bright that night. Nights like this were her favorite, the ones where darkness never fully came because there wasn't a cloud in the sky to be seen.

He nodded, but he wasn't looking at the stars.

" _I'd'a asked him, you know, if he was still here."_

 _The atmosphere within the truck had shifted considerably at the mention of Hershel Greene. The man who had shown Daryl more affection during the fucking end of the world, than Will Dixon had in a lifetime; the man who understood a lot more about Daryl and his behaviors than he liked to remember._

 _The man who had been the glue to their group, the one who insisted that everyone had a job to do and that there was still reason to have faith. He was the best man that Daryl had ever met – and now the air that hung around Glenn and himself was awkward._

 _He should be asking Hershel this question, not Glenn. Then again, Hershel hadn't messed around when it came to his children, especially his youngest. Maybe Hershel would have sent him away and refused. Maybe Hershel wouldn't have been okay with the redneck trash and his perfect daughter; and rightfully so._

 _He cringed at the very thought._

 _Maybe this wasn't a good idea, maybe he should just throw the deadweight in his pocket out the window and forget it. But then Glenn spoke up, and he was thinking about her again. And whenever she was on his mind, it was hard to think about anything else._

" _I'm not sure I'm the right one to ask, but if it means anything I think it's great."_

"Daryl?"

He shook his head, turning towards her. Her large doe eyes were trained on him, and her eyebrow was raised towards him. Which meant she was waiting for an answer, of some kind.

"Mm?"

She rolled her eyes at him, letting a slight chuckle escape her lips. "I asked if you're okay. You're acting different."

Probably because he had an engagement rock the size of fucking Georgia in his pocket, and the smooth wedding band to go along with it. He'd searched high and low for a ring that would be good enough for her, and he looked at every ring in that store until he found the most sparkly one to match her existence.

He'd snorted at the price tag – money used to make the world go around, and now it meant absolutely nothing.

He'd _had_ to find the perfect one for her, give her everything and more than she would have dreamed for herself – because he was damned sure that when she was dreaming about times like this as a little girl, she certainly hadn't pictured him as her husband. Daryl fucking Dixon had no right to marry Beth Greene, and he was wondering how the hell she hadn't come to her senses already.

But he'd never even think about complaining.

Never in his life had he thought he would be here, not before the world ended and surely to hell not after it ended. But here he was, Beth Greene in his arms, scared as ol' hell but almost ready to do it anyways.

And of course, like every time he'd come to the decision that he should _just do it_ , his palms became sweaty and his vision became clouded. What if she says no? What if she says _yes_? There would be no secrecy to what was "Daryl and Beth" if he gave her these. People would look at them and _know_ , and he knew that someone like her shouldn't be with – shouldn't _want_ to be with – someone like him.

But would she even wear them? Would she really want to flash around that she, for reasons unbeknown to him, was tied to him? Would she think it was stupid? It seemed so stupid to him, with everything she had gone through, why would she even want a diamond that had no value in this world?

A million thoughts flooded through his head.

"'M fine," he responded, tugging her a little closer to him, watching out the window of the tower silently. In the back of his mind, he thought that he was possibly better than fine.

 **TBC**

 **Ah the Bethyl feels! Please let me know what you think!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Sorry, not sorry.**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

They were running.

They were always running, it seemed.

He was in a daze, couldn't really comprehend anything at the moment, other than the dead on their heels and the fire on their asses.

" _Oh my god," Beth whispered, wide eyes going larger at the sight in front of her. "Daryl!"_

 _They were still up in the guard tower, wrapped up in the blanket Beth had brought along, munching on the dried cranberries she had also brought along. He had been so caught up in looking at her that he almost missed it._

 _Almost missed the herd._

 _Huge – was the first word that came to his mind to accurately describe what was pending in front of them. A huge mass of dead, shuffling towards the sturdy walls. Sturdy walls that he knew would fall eventually, he just hadn't thought it would be tonight. Or even anytime soon._

 _And then he saw Rick Grimes running towards it all._

" _Go," he whispered back to her, standing up and taking action. He tossed the blanket to her and tried to assess the situation that was in front of them._

 _There was no way. No way that the walls were going to hold up with the mass that was directed right at them. Alexandria was going to go down, no matter what they tried to do to prevent it. Because the others that had been on watch were picking them off one by one, with their pistols. And maybe their family knew how to avoid walkers, but here in Alexandria, they were uneducated._

 _They didn't understand that the sounds of human noises would make them do anything – get through anything. They were already dead – they had absolutely nothing to lose._

 _He turned his head to glance at Beth, who stood clutching the blanket to her chest, eyes shimmering in both fear and anticipation._

 _But he did._

 _Oh, he had everything to lose._

" _Beth, go!" He took her by the elbow and pushed her as gently as he could at a time like this, towards the stairs of the watch tower. "You go tell everyone and pack a bag, y'hear? I gotta help Rick."_

 _She was so close to tears that she was embarrassed even by herself. Knew about his loyalties to Rick, and even admired it. But this all seemed a little too familiar for her liking. "Daryl,_ no _."_

 _He pulled her in to him, not usually so forward but emotions were running high, his crossbow hanging off his back limply. Her head tucked beneath his chin, arms wound tight around each other. This was bad, nothing good ever came from being split up, but right now this was the only thing he could think of. He had to get down there and help them, alpha male blood ran in his veins._

 _She wrapped her arms tight around his waist, ears ringing from the outside gunshots and the growls of the impending dead. Here they were again, and Beth almost couldn't stand it._

 _Things moved fast after that._

 _He shrugged her off, and grabbed one side of her face. He was never so forward, was never the one to initiate physical contact, but all she could do was stare up at him. Him. Who she was once again going to do what she had replayed in her head a million times before, wishing she could take it back._

 _She was about to run._

"' _Ere," he said, his voice gruff and dark. He roughly pulled something from his pocket, grabbing her hand and putting it in the middle of her palm._

 _She cried at the sight._

" _Don't haveta wear it," he shrugged, watching the tears glisten in her huge wide eyes. He had no idea what came over him, had no idea why he pulled it out when he did. No idea why he presented her with something so monumental at a time like this._

 _But deep down, he knew._

 _Nothing was certain in this world, certainly not life._

 _And then she was on him, her legs wrapped around his waist and her head buried in the crook of his neck. And she was sobbing, clinging to him with all her worth._

 _It lasted for a lot longer than it should have, Daryl holding her up and Beth clinging to him, but neither wanted to move. Neither wanted the inevitable to happen, didn't want to be split up again, and didn't want to be on the run again. Not when everything here had been going so well._

" _Beth," he whispered, breathing her in._

 _She let her legs drop at her name, passing back the ring that she held in her palm. She wiped at her tears, trying not to sniffle, and looked deep into his eyes. "Put it on me."_

 _He clumsily slid the too big ring on the finger she directed, letting out a breath at the moment that would be etched in his memory forever. He watched her face as a sad smile came over her features, before he was pulled into an embrace, their lips meshing together in what he would consider a sealed deal._

" _Okay," she said once they were parted, screaming and yelling coming from all over the place now. "What's the plan?"_

 _He climbed down the ladder before he spoke, grabbing her from her own dismount when she was close enough for him to reach, planting her on the ground with hands on her shoulders. "Pack a bag, make sure Judith and Maggie get out. You got your knife, you remember what we went over?"_

 _She noticeably gulped, but nodded._

 _He nodded at her once more before turning back around to see Rick running towards the wall, to the people who were trying to reinforce the walls that were slowly caving. He only took one step towards Rick who was calling for him before she grabbed his wrist._

 _As he looked back at her, frightened eyes turned hard with determination, he thought that maybe he had never seen something quite as beautiful as Beth Greene._

 _Beth Dixon, as she had just agreed to be._

 _And that thought was much too heady to process with the surrounding occurrences, and all he could do was look at her as she tried to give him her best smile._

" _I love you, Daryl Dixon."_

 _She took off in the opposite direction before he could possibly respond, but as he watched her run off with her knife in hand and strong legs carrying her, he thought, well Christ he thought maybe he loved her too._

"Daryl, brother, you gotta stop."

He, Rick and some kid he didn't know were trekking through the woods in the same direction that they had come from, the same direction that he knew she would be travelling in. And hell maybe even Michonne would have backtracked that way too, and Daryl couldn't believe that Rick wanted to stop.

The other man noticing his scowl and sighed. "The kid can't keep up Daryl, it's dark and we've been running for hours. Just take a minute."

He stocked off, his heart aching, but he wouldn't leave Rick. Knew the man was going through his own inner turmoil, with the absence of both his children and Michonne.

" _Rick it ain't gonna hold!" Their leader whipped his head back at his voice, the look he received saying that he had figured it out for himself. "Was up in the tower, too many man. We gotta go."_

 _At that, Rick paled. They were clear across the Safe Zone and wouldn't have time to go back, not before the whole of the South wall collapsed and hundreds if not thousands of the dead swarmed them. The walls that were once keeping things out would only hold them in if they didn't leave now._

 _They turned on heel and ran back to the tower, where Daryl had plans of jumping the walls and meeting Beth on the other side. They has discussed this before, Beth and Daryl, on what they would do in the events of this happening. They had planned to stay together no matter what, had planned that this would be their escape route. Had even gone as far as setting up emergency escape routes around the whole of Alexandria, because both of them had the same feeling._

 _And they were right, apparently._

 _But now that she wasn't here, it was hard to say. It was hard to say that she wouldn't have to find another way out._

 _His heart was in his throat as a loud crack sounded and the first walker entered._

" _Common!" Rick yelled at him, grabbing him by the labels of the jacket and pushing him towards the window of the tower. The drop was steep and the ground underneath was that of gravel, but Daryl and Beth had stashed rope up here long ago, and the dismount was flawless._

 _Rick shook his head when his feet hit the ground. "I wasn't prepared man. What was I doing?"_

 _Daryl ignored the question as he started running to the front entrance, where he knew she would go. She had to be there, she wouldn't have tried to run back to the tower, would she? Oh god, no. But like most things in his life, when they got there it was chaos. The gate wide open with walkers already crowding towards them, many already hovering over their latest kill._

 _Rick must have knew, he must have because he didn't let Daryl flounder for long. "They made it, Michonne went to get everyone. They made it man, we got to go."_

The kid was crying and both Rick and Daryl had their heads in their hands.

"Okay, we need a plan." It was Rick who came to his senses first.

They always needed a plan.

"Me, Beth and Michonne came from this way," Daryl sighed. He could feel himself crawling back into the mindset that he had when she had been taken away from him in the first place. He needed to focus. She was out there, and she was looking for him too. "We talked about this happening. We'll keep going this way."

Rick nodded, gulping. Daryl could see the guilt on the other man's face, one that he knew came from not being prepared himself. Hell, he wasn't even sure Rick had a damn weapon on him.

"'Ere," Daryl grunted, passing over one of his smaller knives to the kid he still didn't know the name of, but looked to be about Carl's age. But Daryl could tell that this kid, unlike Carl, was helpless when it came to wielding a knife.

He could tell Rick was thinking the same thing, too, and Daryl was relieved to see him pull out a pistol from his waistband.

…

Oh god, where _was_ he?

Beth ran through the forest, Judith clutched tightly to her chest, Carl not far behind. In the mix-up that would be remembered as the fall of Alexandria, Beth hadn't even had time to find her sister or brother in law, hadn't had time to grab anything other than Rick Grimes' kids.

" _Beth! What's happening?"_

 _She turned her attention to her right, catching glimpse of the eldest Grimes' child clutching to his little sister with wide eyes._

" _Carl!" Coming to a halt in front of him, she took the baby from his arms, who he was more than willing to pass over once Beth handed him her knife. "Carl, the walls are going down. There's a herd twice the size of the one at the farm."_

 _She watched as his adolescent face turned pale._

 _And she felt so bad, so fucking bad for these two children who can't seem to catch a break, who can't seem to able to have a childhood. And every time they seem to have a resemblance of normal, it's pulled away from under their feet and they're on the move again._

 _Running._

 _The loud crack rang through the air, signaling it was time to get out of here. The plan to run back to the guard tower wasn't possible, and for a split second she panicked._

 _Daryl._

 _She had no food, no water, one knife and two kids._

 _But then she looked at Carl again, and realized that he wasn't quite the kid he had been when they had showed up on her Daddy's farm. No, the Carl looking back at her now was as much a man as most of them, one who could protect himself and one who had seen too much in his young life._

 _Hell they'd all seen too much._

 _They could do this._

 _Until they reached the front entrance and realized that the walkers had swarmed that as well, and she could see people going down. Could see people trying to fight them off, could hear screams of panic from every which direction, and she panicked. Carl cursed, and she was too stunned at the unfolding scene in front of her to correct him._

 _Fuck was right._

 _Daryl._

 _What would he do?_

 _And suddenly she groaned because she let her own emotions interfere with getting Carl and Judith out of here, to remember one of the many escape routes they had discussed weeks back, just in case._

" _You see that far corner, past the chicken coop?" She said while turning and running towards it, Judith happily chewing on the end of her ponytail._

 _She waiting until Carl nodded._

" _There's a rope hanging from the top, me and Daryl set it up just in case a few weeks ago. You're going to have to grab the stick and pull it down, okay?"_

 _Carl nodded again, sticking the blade of her knife into a walker that was gaining too much access to them, like he had been doing this his whole life. And that thought broke her heart even more, because in reality, Carl_ had _been fighting off walkers for most of his life._

" _How're we gonna get Judy up too?" He asked, panting a little as he caught up to her, eyes scanning for the stick as they came closer to the North side wall._

 _Dammit._

 _Beth hadn't thought of that._

 **TBC**

 **Okay, so maybe I am a little sorry. Please let me know what you think, thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: I'm sorry this has taken so long. This chapter had been originally finished for a while, but typical me, didn't think it was good enough. I fear that I am going off tangent, making it too complex and hard to follow. If anyone could give me your opinions, it would be very much appreciated. I've never really written a story to this magnitude before, and it's a learning process.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

It was morning by the time Rick had asked Daryl to stop again, the crying kid continuing to blubber the whole way. And Daryl got it, he did. The kid had probably just lost everything and everyone that he loved, but welcome to how the world was now. He'd been a lot younger than this kid when he'd lost his Momma and was put into the hands of Will Dixon.

Things happened, whether you wanted them to or not.

And God, all he could think about was Beth. Where was she, was she okay? She had to have made it, he convinced himself that he would feel it if she hadn't. Wouldn't he?

He was starting to lose his mind.

…

" _I – I don't… there, the stick is right there!" Beth watched from behind as Carl moved the stick back and forth, snagging the rope on the third swing that fell down with a whoosh._

 _The little girl in question was still sucking on the end of her ponytail, her age making it impossible for her to realize the impending almost certain death. No, she wasn't going to let that happen. She had been like a mother to Judy back at the prison, the only mother that Judith would really remember anyways as sad as it was, and she had always made sure to visit the little girl here at Alexandria._

 _She was getting her out, or she was going down with her._

 _Daryl._

" _Carl give me your sweater, hurry!" And Carl didn't hesitate to throw the object of question at her, even in the cold. She tugged it around her, and tied the baby onto her as tight as she could with the arms of the sweater. She tucked in the hanging body of the sweater under Judith's bottom, and hoped liked hell._

 _Hoped like hell this would hold until she could climb the walls. The infant struggled, unhappy in her new confinements, but Beth didn't have the time to console the child._

" _You go up first, Carl!"_

 _She watched as the swarm of walkers got closer and closer._

 _Too close._

" _Go Beth! I'm grabbing a chicken, go!" She started climbing the rope, Judith catching on and grabbing her by the neck. Oh this baby was so smart, and when they got out of this, Beth was going to make sure to treat the little girl who deserved so much more than this world had to offer._

 _She landed on the other side of the wall with a thump, on her rear end that earned a shot of pain through her spine. But she was able to stand, she was able to move, and little Judy looked up at her with watery but alive eyes._

 _Quickly checking her surroundings, there were no immediate threats – which she could see._

 _It all seemed a little too familiar for her likings._

 _The feeling of being watched prickled up Beth's skin, and she had to push the thoughts of the man who took her away. Had to push those thoughts right out of her head because she just didn't have the time to crawl into her own mind._

 _Not now._

" _Carl!" Beth yelled, and could feel her throat tighten in panic._

 _Oh god, no not Carl._

 _But then there was a chicken thrown over the wall, and then a second, followed by none other than Carl Grimes himself._

 _She cried at the sight._

…

The kid, the kid didn't make it.

They had been stopped for a break, and no matter what they did the kid wouldn't stop crying. He and Rick had been trying to make a plan about their no food or water situation when the kid wandered off, and by the time they had heard his scream it was too late.

Rick had shut his eyes in defeat, he knew.

But Daryl, he trudged on and made his brother follow.

…

Travelling with a baby and two live chickens was not ideal.

They were slow, slower than she wanted to be, and every time a walker stumbled through the thick trees Carl had to drop both chickens, who they then had to chase after to catch once the walker was grounded. But Beth wasn't about to complain, not at all. Carl's quick thinking could have just saved them weeks in time, time where they wouldn't be starving.

They only travelled until just before dark, when Beth caught sight of something she had always dreamed of owning herself as a child, and she could recall her Daddy saying that she belonged up there, for the amount of time she had spent in a tree growing up.

"I need your sweater again Carl, we're stopping for the night."

…

His crossbow was wielded as a figure stumbled out of trees to their right, only to be faced with a wide eyed Michonne, katana wielded as if the months in Alexandria hadn't been weapon free.

They all kind of stood there staring with wide eyes, until Rick pulled Michonne into an embrace.

Daryl adverted his eyes at their reunion, feeling a lump grow so large in his own throat that it was hard to breath. But the happy feelings didn't last for long, when Rick looked around and came up short. "Judith? Carl… oh God."

Michonne looked down, shook her head. "I – I couldn't find them."

Rick sat down with a heavy thump, head in his hands, willing the tears not to come.

"Beth," Daryl asked in a whisper, trying to keep everyone together right now. He needed Rick to get out of his own head, needed their leader to carry on and have faith.

 _Wouldn't kill you to have a little faith._

Michonne shook her head at that too, "I didn't see her, either."

…

The treehouse was that of a young child's, once, that Beth could tell.

The walls were decorated with pictures done by a child's hand, crayons and markers discarded into a corner. In a whole, the place was tiny and Beth noticed that Carl had to crouch in order to fit, but it was safe. It was off the ground and away from immediate danger, and that's what Beth had been looking for since they had taken off.

There were a few old blankets in the treehouse, but they were moldy and wet from years of sitting unused, and Carl and her made quick work of making it as clean as they could, throwing some things onto the ground below them.

And only when Beth had swaddled a sleeping Judith in her own sweater, did she look up at Carl's hard face. It only took him a moment to catch her eye, and they were both scrambling back down the ladder with one of their chickens in tow.

…

"You've got to sleep sometime, Daryl." Michonne watched him as an exhausted Rick succumbed to the well-earned rest, nightfall close to surrounding them again, and still no signs of Beth. "She knows what she's doing out here, remember?"

Daryl looked her in the eye for the first time since she had stumbled through the woods at them. He had been selfish, he had wished that it had been Beth instead, but he knew deep down that he was happy it was Michonne, out of everyone.

Maybe it wasn't _her_ , but Michonne was okay in his books; had been for a while. And out of maybe everyone in their group, she was the one that _knew_. She was out here with him and Beth, she knew.

"Told her to run when I went to save his ass," he grunted, trying to deliver a glare at Rick's sleeping form, but couldn't really.

…

"Did Daryl give you that?"

The question came when they were picking the meat off the bones of the chicken, the one that they had prepared themselves and smoked over the fire. It had been a clumsy cleaning, and she had never witnessed Daryl or anyone pluck a chicken after the world ended, so her only experience she had to go by was age old memories of Otis. And even then, back when she had just been little, she tried to stay as far away from the slaughter shed as she could when those days came around.

The baby was still sleeping, and all Beth could hope was the remaining chicken would provide an egg or two, for Judith who was bound to be hungry when she woke up.

It was a long shot, she knew, but she had tried to collect as many things as she could for the poor animal to eat, who hadn't touched anything. It wasn't a wild chicken, she knew, and maybe insects and plant matter weren't its first choice of a meal but it was all she had to offer. When the poor thing was hungry enough, it would eat.

It was a fleeting moment of remembering just how she had gotten the ring that she donned on her left ring finger.

"Yeah, he did," she replied sadly, looking down at the beautiful gem that meant everything. It had come as such a surprise, it had come at such a desperate time that now she had everyone to safety with a full stomach, she could really think about what it meant.

Daryl Dixon, in his own way, had asked her to marry him.

And now she wasn't quite sure he was even alive.

…

It was dark, and hours had passed in complete silence before Michonne spoke to him again, her voice rough from lack of use. "I didn't see her escape, but I didn't see her go down either."

He looked at her, his eyes going in and out of focus on their own accord, the exhaustion starting to take over regardless of how much he was fighting it. He'd have to sleep soon, he knew, at least try to get a few hours to keep himself going, but he hadn't figured out exactly _how_ just yet.

She wasn't lying beside him, he didn't just tuck her into a warm bed bidding his goodnight. He hadn't just tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, kissing her forehead before leaving her contentedly asleep with her sister and brother in law down the hall. She was out there, probably terrified and freezing if he knew her.

Oh God, why did he tell her to run?

He thought he had more time. He thought the walls were stronger.

"You should sleep, I'll wake Rick up soon. It's been two days, Daryl."

"Y'think I don't know that?" He snapped, letting the back of his head rest against the tree he was sitting underneath with a small thud. He was starting to come undone around the seams, and he knew that the other woman was right, he did.

But two days without Beth Greene felt like two years.

…

"He ran back to help your Dad," Beth explained in a whisper to Carl as she tried to pick apart the chicken in small enough pieces to feed a wiggling Judith, who had taken real interest in the crayons and old coloring book. The thing was smudged from being outside for a long time, and you could hardly make out the pictures of once beautiful Disney Princess', but Judy didn't mind.

Didn't know any better.

Carl nodded, sitting with his knees up and playing with the tip of her knife. They had searched around the treehouse for other useable weapons, and had come up empty handed. She refused to let Carl wander back to Alexandria, even though the teenager was more than confident in his abilities. It just wasn't worth it.

The chicken clucked as Judith tried to color on it.

"I know what way they would have went, back in the same direction we came from. Daryl, Michonne and I. It was our escape route, we talked about it a million times. But that's miles and miles away."

Carl looked up at her at that. "Well we have to try."

Beth nodded. It seemed like the Grimes' blood was all the same.

…

"We can't go back, man. There were too many."

Rick was talking but Daryl wasn't listening. They had been traipsing through these woods for days, getting further and further away from where Alexandria once stood. And he wasn't having it anymore, he couldn't go any further away without knowing where she was.

It was making him go insane.

"Y'want me to be a fuckin' farmer, Rick? Cause I ain't far off!" His voice was rough, emotion that was unwanted bubbling to the surface. He certainly hadn't meant to hurt their leader, hadn't meant to snap really. And Daryl Dixon didn't like to let his emotions get the better of him, but now was an exception.

 _She_ was always the exception.

He was breathing hard, facing away from the duo when he felt a hand on his shoulder. They only had each other right now, and Daryl knew that he'd take having Rick by his side than being alone any day. But that didn't mean he was going to follow after Rick like some sort of kicked puppy when Beth could be out there, could need him.

No, he'd done enough following in his lifetime.

"Okay man," Rick relented with a sigh, squeezing his shoulder once more before letting go and backing away from the surely redneck. "Lead the way."

Daryl nodded, and started walking without turning to see if they followed.

…

"I don't know if we should be carrying that chicken around with us," Beth revealed as they were walking in what she hoped was the right direction, the chicken clucking underneath Carl's arm. She had gotten a lot of pointers and tips from Daryl on their time together, and he had even gone out of his way to teach her some things after their reunion. But she wasn't him, she hadn't been forced to learn how to survive as a child, like he had.

She only had a screwed sense of direction and a knife to help her out on this one.

Even Judith had the sense to stay relatively quiet as they were walking through the thick overgrowth, Beth stopping to pick and mush up blueberries before sticking them into the little girl's gummy smile. Judith still had a yellow crayon in her tiny fist, marveling at something so simple.

Something so simple that didn't exist anymore.

Carl petted the chicken's head, shrugging his shoulders at her words. She knew that he would get rid of it if she really pushed, but she tried her best smile at him instead and continued on.

…

Frustration.

The helpless feeling of almost having something and letting it slip right through your fingers. It was a feeling that Daryl was beginning to know quite well, a feeling that felt much like gut rot itself.

It was nightfall again, and they had found a small little moonshine shack back here, he could tell the signs from miles away. As soon as he saw it, his heart jumped to his throat, his eyes ached. There were a million of these little shacks around the Southern part of the States, or what used to be States, he knew. But it didn't make it any easier, didn't make finding something they were supposed to do together any better.

Rick said it was a good start, said that they would follow the driveway out to the road in the morning and go back in to Alexandria that way. They needed sleep, Rick had said cautiously, and had looked a little relieved when he didn't protest.

They had a plan, they always had to have a plan.

But they needed sleep too.

He had one cigarette left, and decided that if there were ever a time where he would need nicotine, it would be now.

Hell, he needed a lot more than just nicotine.

And without a second thought, he walked out where he knew the stash would be, carelessly using the quickly diminishing battery in the flashlight. Didn't even think about the extra weight on his back when he threw in a couple jars of the liquid in his bag, because he'd give it to her when he found her.

When.

 **TBC**

 **Please let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: Early update because it was ready and I've been awful at updating when I should. This story, unfortunately is coming to an end. Just a few more chapters left!**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Seventeen**

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Beth Greene had laid eyes on Daryl Dixon. Two weeks since she had seen her sister, her brother in law… her family.

She was sitting underneath a tree, a sleeping Carl lying not far from her with Judith contentedly sleeping against his chest. String with hanging forks and spoons were strung around them in a haphazard circle, in which Beth had constructed that morning when they came up to a tiny outer lying village.

The houses there had been obviously well searched, and they had only spent long enough to grab what they desperately needed before running back to the shelter of the woods. They both understood what happened when people got greedy and stuck around for too long.

She was still trying to overcome her own fears, still trying to come to terms that she was once again out here, helpless and unprepared. Still trying to push the idea out of her head that she would end up back on the floor of that old cabin.

Trying to forget that she had no idea if Daryl Dixon was dead or alive.

The chicken, who in their weeks on the road had been affectionately named 'Peck', was settled into her own lap. She had always had chickens while growing up – just one of many perks of growing up on a farm. She'd inherited the love of animals from her Daddy, and Peck was beginning to adjust, if not slowly.

Maggie loved those chickens more than she ever had – it had been her older sister's chore to feed them every morning, since she could remember.

They'd got an egg this morning – the very first one since Alexandria. It was a welcome occasion, and giving the chicken food and their precious water was starting to pay off.

It had been a monumental moment, as Carl held the tiny egg preciously to his chest before handing it over to Beth. She'd rigged up an empty can on the small fire they allowed themselves, and she'd cooked it to the best of her ability, considering.

And that damn egg was the best egg she'd ever had.

One egg between the three of them wasn't much, but with the added baked beans from a can they had found, it had been a pretty good meal. And when they went to sleep that night, they had no hunger pains.

They'd passed the outskirts of Alexandria two days ago, walking far enough in the woods that they couldn't be seen by walkers that very well may still be swarmed in there. She had to physically hold Carl back as they had stumbled upon the North side wall, where they had escaped. Of course he had wanted to check it out, go back in where they knew endless supplies were.

Back to where he had lost his Dad, even though she assured him a million times that Rick Grimes would not go down over something as common as a herd; in this new world. Beth, even though trying to not push the teen who had a newfound temper, persuaded him to continue on.

They were finally going the right way, the way that she knew they had come from. The way that would hopefully take her back to the arms she belonged in – where she knew she wanted to be indefinitely.

She just hoped she wasn't too late.

…

The first thing he saw in the distance was the South side wall, where they had to make a run for it.

The collapsed South wall.

He'd lost track of time since the fall of Alexandria, had lost count of the times the sun went down, lost count of how many days it had been since he had lost Beth Greene. Without her in his life, day and night became muddled, everything became a constant struggle of finding her.

Again.

Rick and Michonne had followed up until the tree line, where they stopped as well as he did. No one really knew if the herd had been led here by humans, if it was just a freak of nature or what, but none of them wanted to go back in with the little they had. They weren't prepared, not for a herd that size, and they definitely weren't prepared to run into the living.

No, the living did not get along great, nowadays.

"What now?" Rick supplied when the silence became too much, when he realized that he had been staring at that fallen wall for a lot longer than his brain could register.

Daryl looked at Michonne, who nodded along with him.

The plan was to backtrack in their arrival steps, they just had to get there first.

…

Beth and Carl were setting up camp, the sun slowly starting to diminish. With the yellow crayon that Judith had kept for herself, Beth marked another tally on the back of the colouring book they had taken from the treehouse.

It was her fourteenth tally, she knew.

Granted she didn't keep track of the weekdays like everyone once had, but she recognized that it would be considered two weeks since the fall of Alexandria.

Carl, on their one and only trip into a small town, had grabbed a cat harness off the key holder in the front porch of the house they'd dared to enter. The cat, Beth knew but didn't say as much, was probably long gone – especially if it had been so much of a house cat to need a harness for outside.

But she tried to push those thoughts away, and smiled as much as she could when Carl strapped Peck into it. The chicken at first toppling over and hadn't cooperated, but it had gotten used to wobbling after them with the leash attached.

Peck, the chicken, was now tied to a tree and happily eating from the canister of dried bird food that Beth had spotted almost immediately after walking into the second and last house they had raided. Beggars could not be choosers.

"Here," Carl said, passing a squirming Judith over to Beth who in favor stretched out her arms for the little girl. "Be right back… you know."

Carl's adolescent face turned a shade of red as he shrugged before walking further into the trees to be out of view, and all Beth could do was smile sadly. She hadn't been very old herself, when the world turned, but at least she had time to get over the teen stage. Thank God she didn't find something as natural as relieving herself embarrassing, anymore.

For the most part.

Admittedly, she used to hum so Daryl couldn't hear her, back when the Prison had fallen.

As she swaddled Judith in her sweater, she pulled out the tiny canvas sac that she had been able to find, pulling out wild blueberries and mushing them between her fingers before offering them to the small child.

If she thought about it, she imagined that she could possibly be in her twenties by now. Maybe she would even be old enough to have her first legal drink, even though she knew age meant nothing anymore. Age was just another number that no longer existed.

She was so deep into thought, the silence surrounding them so thick, that when Peck started to squawk wildly, her heart leaped up into her throat in surprise.

 _Click_.

She knew that sound anywhere.

…

Daryl held up a hand.

His eyes had been stuck to the ground, looking and searching for any kind of indication that someone had been through here. Until just now, the tracks he had witnessed were quite obviously made by walkers, their feet dragging over the soil with no clear direction.

He kneeled down to get a better look.

They were hers, alright. He knew the bottoms of those boots anywhere, could pick those tracks out in a heartbeat among all the others. Moving trees and branches out of the way, he took a real good look. There was someone with her, and a sort of unsettled feeling came over his chest.

"Find something?" Rick asked, eyes quickly scanning around them, sweat starting to form on his forehead despite it being winter months. It wasn't hard to tell that the seasons were starting to shift again.

Daryl grunted, looking at both Rick and Michonne.

"Weeks old," he snarled, anger and frustration penetrating every bone in his body as he followed her trail that had seemed to go cold.

…

"Well ain't you a pretty little thang."

Beth closed her eyes and willed herself not to laugh at the irony of the situation at hand. Carl had just taken off with the knife, the sun was starting to fade under the last bit of land, and Judith was beginning to become impatient that her meal of blueberries had been interrupted.

When Beth turned her head, she was met with a sight she had been anticipating – a gun most likely loaded and pointed at her face.

It wasn't a new scene, unfortunately.

Terror ripped through her like white hot pain, her fingers tingled and her head started to sway. She was terrified, shaking in her boots. She stood slowly, pressing Judith into her chest. The child seemed to sense the danger, or even the strange man, because she didn't fuss again over the forgotten blueberries.

" _If they're bigger than you, Greene, and it won't take much," Daryl said, as they were standing on the outskirts of Alexandria, fists raised and standing in defensive stances._

" _Hey," she interrupted, crossing her arms in mock hurt._

" _Yeah, yeah," Daryl murmured, letting his version of a laugh pass his lips. "You go for the knees, you hear me? And don't you be scared to fight dirty."_

Daryl.

The man, who looked to be alone but she could not be certain, lowered his gun and smiled. His teeth that he showed were rotten, his appearance not much better. Beth could tell by looking at him that he had been out here for a long while. Possibly since the beginning of all this.

He wore dark blue overalls, the kind that used to be worn while working in a garage – but the whole suit was blacker that the navy blue it was originally, she knew. She could smell the walker bile from him where she was standing.

He had matted brown hair making him look like something straight out of a horror movie – one of the ones that she had covered her eyes for when her friends in town declared that was what they were watching for the evening.

But this wasn't a horror movie – movies of all genera's didn't exist anymore.

No, this horror movie was real.

His eyes – one look into his dark green eyes and Beth knew he had lost it. Had lost that last bit of sanity that divided human from walkers, had lost the last bit of humanity that survivor's were trying to hang on to.

Peck squawked and the man narrowed his eyes at it, before picking it up by the collar that was never made for a chicken. Beth watched on in terror as he jokingly brought the gun to their beloved pet. "An' you even got me dinner, boy I haven't laid eyes on a chicken for a long while."

…

"Look," Michonne whispered, pointing over to a small clearing in the trees.

It took Daryl a moment to figure out what she was pointing at, until he saw it too. It was unlike him to miss something so predominant, something so clearly obvious and visible. He was so focused on Beth that he was having trouble keeping his head on right, and he needed to fix that. Now.

"Someone was here not long ago," Rick concluded, taking in the black soot that littered the ground, not yet washed away from the wind or rain that seemed to come along with the seasons change as well as the heat.

Michonne started to wander in closer, and Daryl all but threw her out of the way as he spotted something.

A broken hair elastic.

There was probably only one female left in the world that refused to cut her hair, no matter how dangerous it was to keep long.

 _Her_.

…

Beth watched on helplessly as the man dangled Peck from the collar, the chicken hanging limply. It seemed like they all immediately knew they were in danger, even the poor chicken.

The man threw Peck back to the ground and smiled at her. "Now what is a pretty thing like you doing out here all by your lonesome?"

Beth gulped and willed her voice to not shake. "I'm not alone."

The man laughed, but Beth could tell it was humorless. He gave her a grin that sent chills down her spine, before speaking in his thick accented voice. "Funny I don't see anyone else. Should be expecting Daddy to come back at any time, then?"

Beth didn't say anything to that. She was not about to tell this man that Judith wasn't hers, she wasn't about to give him any kind of information on where Carl had gone off to. She just hoped that Carl would hear what was going on before he stepped back out of the woods and stay far away.

"Daddy's dead," Beth replied, trying to be as brave as her trembling voice would let her, trying to push the thoughts of her actual Daddy's demise out of her head.

The man smirked at that.

…

Daryl was seated under the tree that he was convinced Beth had been at not long before. They'd had to stop for the night, unable to track her prints any longer in the diminishing sun. Ever since he had sat down for the night, he had a heavy feeling in his chest.

One of defeat, he knew, but right now they were doing all they could. He had Rick and Michonne following after him even when Rick could have refused. Both his kids could be out there, yet he was still with him.

Rick was a good man, Daryl knew. So when they had stopped to take a rest he let his friend rest by offering up for first watch. Both Rick and Michonne had laid down together, but he could tell only one of them was sleeping.

He wasn't wrong when Rick sighed not an hour into his watch, sitting up while rubbing his eyes and moving so he had his back against the same tree Daryl was sitting under.

It was silent for a long time, Michonne's deep breathing the only sounds around them.

"Carl," Rick started, his voice cracking with the weight that name brought among the two men. "He knows what he's doing. Judith…"

Rick trailed off, playing with his hands, but he had Daryl's attention. He felt bad, all of a sudden, and feeling bad wasn't something that Daryl let himself do very often. He liked to stick to the usual reaction of anger, one less likely to hurt.

But then it turned to guilt, and that was something he was very familiar with.

"Someone woulda' grabbed her," he found himself trying to console, something entirely new to someone who wasn't Beth. Daryl had never been good at this, but knew Rick needed it. Knew Rick needed a lot more than what he could possibly say in his fucked up mind where words did not come easy.

Rick nodded, but didn't look up.

It was silent for a long time, until they heard something alarming off in the distance.

Until they heard a gunshot.

…

The man had stalked close enough for Beth to not only see his awful teeth, but she could now smell his foul breath. It was smothering, and visions of the cabin and the man who took her flooded through brain in such a whirlwind that she couldn't process what the man in front of her was saying.

He stalked her like his prey.

She was somewhere out of body, watching down on the events at hand but unable to make her body react.

Of course, not until he pointed the gun at little Judith.

Beth, although knew it was brazen, moved the baby from the point of the gun. Her voice sounded a lot weaker than she wanted it to, when she croaked out, "She's just a baby."

The man laughed. "You're just a baby yourself, darling. Give her here, I bet she's a squealer."

He lunged forward at that, the gun pointed directly on Beth's temple. She clung to the little girl, who was looking at the man as if he had three heads. Judith was squirming as the man grabbed her underneath her little arms, when a flash of movement caught Beth's eye. Oh God, there could be more of them.

" _Don't you be afraid to play dirty."_

Playing tug-of-war with Judith ended abruptly as the man slipped up, he only slipped up for a second, the gun still in his hand, but it was no longer pointed at her temple. It was all she needed. She raised her leg and kicked as hard as she could, pain shooting up her ankle but unable to really judge how bad it could be with the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

Both of them fell to the ground in a heap, Judith crying wildly and the intruder groaning in pain.

At that second, Beth watched as Carl ran into the clearing with wide eyes, having been obviously far enough away from the commotion to hear what had been going on. The knife was wielded immediately as he ran over to where she was lying on the ground with his little sister.

The man who was still on the ground noticed Carl arriving, and scrambled for the gun that had fallen away from his grasp in the attack of her boot meeting his pelvis.

Beth watched on in horror. "Carl! The gun!"

 **TBC**

 **Admittedly I know absolutely nothing about chickens. I know that they probably couldn't live in an apocalyptic world, but I do know that I needed some sort of comic relief – thus Peck the chicken. Please let me know what you think!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: I worked really hard to get this finished this week. Happy Wednesday! The reviews as of late haven't been plentiful, but I wanted to mention that I appreciate everyone who has been with this story from the beginning. I may not have time to respond to you all, but I truly do appreciate you.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

 _Bang_.

Beth couldn't look from her spot on the ground, couldn't open her eyes to see what she knew had just happened. This was it, she knew. Judith was screaming her poor eyes out, and it took everything in Beth to rub the child's back. For there would be no calming down to do, because they were done.

The sky was dark and cloudy, the cover of the forest doing them no good. Once she had her eyes open, all she could do was stare. The sound of the gunshot that still rang in her ears would soon bring walkers, but she figured that maybe she wouldn't be here by the time they did.

Maybe this guy would make it fast, maybe he would bring her somewhere and have his way like the other man did. Maybe this wasn't the end, but another slow death sentence.

…

 _Maggie Rhee hadn't had the best time, since the fall of Alexandria._

 _The only positive thing that was to come of this, she was sure, was the fact that she hadn't been separated from her husband again. There was a time once, when they weren't together, and Maggie didn't like to think of that. Didn't like to think about her selfish ways, in which she had chosen her husband over her sister._

 _And now, it seemed that she was back at square one._

 _Her sister was gone, her friends were gone. The place where she had planned to have her child was gone – the sanitary facility and Doctor was gone. There was nothing left but her and Glenn, as far as she could tell._

 _And they were scared._

 _They were in the house that had become theirs, when she had heard news that the South wall had collapsed and people were going down. Glenn had grabbed her by the hand and just ran. He hadn't thought of her slower condition, he hadn't tried to stop to get anything. He just pulled her along after him, with no room for argument._

 _They almost hadn't made it through the crowd of people at the gate, either. They'd witnessed a lot of people go down, a lot of people who they outran went down._

 _She panicked._

 _Why wouldn't she panic? She was five months into her pregnancy, for heaven's sake and she had been preparing – nesting. Had been preparing by getting blankets and clothes and diapers. There had been a run crew, back at Alexandria, and they had brought back loads and loads of baby things for her, and a few other women in the Safe Zone._

 _No one mentioned that there was so many baby things still kicking around, because most babies hadn't made it when the world changed._

 _Running around in the woods, five months pregnant was something she hadn't thought she would need to do, hadn't been something on her list of to-dos, either. She wasn't exactly agile, anymore. During this stage of her life, she certainly hadn't thought she would be alone in the middle of the Virginia woods with her husband, who had seriously became the last person she wanted to be with._

 _Everything he did was getting on her nerves._

 _That's why they were in this fight in the first place, where she had wandered off after he had dozed off, knowing it wasn't exactly safe but she needed some space. She was getting sick and tired of circling around the outside perimeters of the fallen safe zone, where Glenn kept saying 'something or someone will show up'._

 _How could he just expect something to happen? Maggie had always been the 'act now think later' kind of person, but now had to play it safe because she just happened to be growing another person inside of her – of which she could not forget, thanks to her husband reminding her every ten seconds._

 _She was just harmlessly gathering blueberries in the moonlight not far off from where her husband slept, when she heard it._

…

"Daryl!" Rick called as Daryl started to run forward. He had his crossbow in his arms, his backpack on his back like it usually was. Just because they had been resting and set up camp for the night, didn't mean that they all weren't ready to flee in a moment's notice. "We can't just run into that, are you crazy?"

Rick sounded near hysteric and had Daryl thought of anything other than Beth, maybe he would have slowed down to reassure his friend. Rick had lost a lot during the fall of Alexandria, including his two children that was the only reminder he had left of his beloved wife, and letting Daryl go into something so unknown wasn't ideal.

Rick couldn't possibly bare to lose anyone else, but Daryl kept running.

Michonne, who was still groggy and sleep ridden had barely followed in a panic behind them when Rick roughly nudged her to follow before taking off after the surly redneck. The gunshot had woken her, but they usually didn't follow any kind of human activity that could potentially be disastrous.

She knew one thing for sure, and that was Daryl Dixon wasn't going to stop, no matter what they said or did, until he found Beth Greene.

Again.

…

Time stood still for Beth as she watched the clouds above her. It was dark, night fully here now, but she could still see the clouds playing with the moon. Could see the dark and twisted swirls of cotton moving through the sky without a sound.

Judith's wailing had softened to small whimpers, resting her head in the crook of Beth's neck. She ought to be exhausted, and the sun being fully down was usually her indication that it was bedtime. It was amazing to watch Judy grow up without anything more than they could carry on their backs – watch her survive without all the extras in the old world that had been considered necessary.

The word 'survived' was used loosely, as Beth heard boots walking towards her.

…

 _It was far off, and had Maggie not been on high alert, had she not found advancement in all her senses since the world changed, maybe he wouldn't have heard it. But she did, and her eyes widened considerably._

 _A chicken._

 _The handful of blueberries that she had collected were forgotten about as she dashed back to Glenn to give him a swift kick to the side. She didn't mean to be rough, and even felt a little bad as she watched her husband jump to his feet and sleep rendered eyes wide open._

" _What the hell, Maggie?" Glenn asked while his eyes scanned around them, running a hand through his hair at the revelation that there was no immediate danger. He rubbed the side where Maggie had kicked him, and thought vaguely for the millionth time that his wife was crazy._

" _I heard a chicken, Glenn! A chicken! We gotta go," Maggie explained as she shouldered her pack that she refused to hand over no matter how many times her husband suggested he carry it. Everything was a blur as she took off into the night, not giving Glenn a moment to argue._

…

Daryl could feel the cuts and slashes on his own exposed skin as he tore through the woods, towards the sound of the gunshot. The wood around him was thick and dense, the brush unforgiving and cruel to his kind but he didn't care; couldn't even feel it.

He'd lost Rick and Michonne about half a mile back, he didn't have time to stop and wait. He had this deep gut feeling that he needed to get to wherever that shot had rang out, he _needed_ to.

Beth could be there.

She could not be there, too, but his mind wasn't letting him think a rational thought. His thoughts, like they usually did, tore through his brain in such a destructive order that even he cringed.

…

The boots came to a halt beside her, and when arms came down to take Judith, she didn't protest on handing the little girl over. If this man could shoot a teen in cold blood, God knows what he would do to the little girl who had become her own. Her stomach rolled and her vision blurred around the edges.

But the voice that followed didn't suit.

"Holy shit!"

At the voice she was quite certain she would never hear again, she shot up to her feet. Standing not mere inches away from her was Carl holding his little sister, beaten sheriff hat where it always sat; unharmed. His eyes were wide as they darted to her, nodding his head in relief at her okay condition, before looking at the dropped body on the ground.

Their attacker was lying on the ground, blood seeping from the bullet hole that was slab in the middle of his forehead.

What just happened?

…

There were walkers stating to swarm, coming from every which way and because of this Daryl shouldered his crossbow, and pulled out two of his knives. He was double fisting his weapons and taking them out as he needed.

There was no one getting in his way, not even the dead.

Not when this could be Beth.

The closer and closer he got to the spot where he had heard the gunshot, the more walkers there seemed to be and if it really was Beth, he needed to take as many out as he could for her.

It was too dark to track, too dark to really see much other than what was directly in your face. The moon was hiding behind clouds frequently, the only light coming from the muddled sky of stars. The only indication he had that he was going in the right direction, other than experience, was now the path of walkers.

He was going towards the walkers, not running away from them.

Panic seared in his throat as he remembered the last time he had been running through the night, running and desperately trying to get to her before something awful happened.

" _I'm not leaving you!"_

He'd been too late back then.

But dammit he wasn't going to be this time.

…

 _Maggie came to an abrupt halt at a clearing and Glenn had to grab onto her shoulders to balance himself. They had both heard the commotion begin as they finally took in the situation in front of them, albeit in the darkness of the night._

 _Beth, who Maggie had to refrain from crying out to, was holding onto Judith. So much warmth flooded into her heart at the moment that tears stung her vision. Her baby sister had made it, had made it with Judith this whole time. She placed a tentative hand on her growing stomach, and let a breath of relief escape her lips._

 _She closed her eyes and smiled to herself, in total peace._

 _Until Glenn's hand that had been resting on her shoulder tightened considerably, and when Maggie looked at the scene again, she noticed the offending man of whom she didn't recognize._

 _She caught the last of the man's harsh words before he became visible. "I bet she's a squealer."_

 _Her whole body froze as she watched the man lunge at her sister, and Judith did not disappoint – as the man grabbed them both, the child let out a screech of terror._

…

He stopped because he had to, not because he wanted to. He knew that if he didn't stop for a moment, maybe he would never make it to where the gunshot had just rang off.

" _No matter what happens, we'll deal with it; we have to."_

Bracing his hands on his knees, he bent over and forced air into his lungs. The dizziness was passing, and with that thought in mind he pulled out the water bottle he always tried to keep full. The water inside was warm and foul tasting, but it was wet and refreshing to his parched mouth.

He took another mouthful of the water, aware that it was something you definitely did not waste but unable to help himself from spitting it out. He was about to start up again when the trees behind him rustled, and he had his knife raised and ready.

Rick Grimes bounded almost right over him, and had Daryl not caught sight of the katana reflecting in the moonlight, he may have swung.

The pair's breathing was erratic and quick, and Daryl let them breath for a moment before throwing them the water bottle. He watched as Michonne took it first, then offering it to Rick who drained the rest of the bottle before throwing the empty bottle in his own pack.

He nodded to them before he took off again.

…

 _Maggie had just pulled out her pistol when Beth shocked them both._

 _It was dark and it was fast and had the man sunk to the ground in pain clutching onto his pelvis, Maggie was sure that she would have missed what had happened._

 _Beth landed on the ground, Judith on top of her. Maggie aimed, taking off the safety of her pistol. She was about to fire too, before Glenn whispered harshly, "Wait!"_

 _Carl Grimes came into the scene before them, eyes wide and confusion noticeable on his face. And even though it was a time of great despair, a time that was gritty and real, Maggie felt more tears of happiness build behind her eyes. Both Grimes children had made it._

 _Through her fog of pregnant induced hormones, Maggie noticed the forgotten man on the ground scramble towards something off in the distance._

" _Carl, the gun!" Beth cried out, her voice terrified and shrill._

Bang.

 **TBC**

 **I'm sorry! I just had to leave you all in suspense one last time! Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: I hummed and hawed over posting this chapter for almost two weeks. I'm a little disappointed in the lack of response, but am much too close to the end to stop now (only about a chapter left!).**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Nineteen**

" _Holy shit!"_

 _At the voice she was quite certain she would never hear again, she shot up to her feet. Standing mere inches away from her was Carl, beaten sheriff hat where it always sat; unharmed. His eyes were wide as they darted to her, nodding his head in relief at both Judith's and her well condition, before looking at the dropped body on the ground._

 _Their attacker was lying on the ground, blood seeping from the bullet hole that was slab in the middle of his forehead._

 _What just happened?_

…

The pistol that Maggie was aware that may have even been with her since the farm, smoked as she lowered it, carefully adjusting it back into the holster that she kept on her belt. The same belt that was on its last hole from her weight gain.

She didn't use the gun much, only for emergencies anymore. For the fact that ammunition was becoming scarce to nonexistent, and that the sound of a gun attracted every walker in a ten mile radius. Or at least, that's what it felt like when they all started to chomp at the bit and swarm the living.

Glenn patted her back, in congrats on the perfect aim or encouraging her to step out of the trees and greet her sister, she wasn't sure.

But Maggie was suddenly froze in spot, the last reunion with her sister at Alexandria had been okay, but she may always be deeply scarred over their first reunion. Scarred so deep that she had an irrational fear that maybe Beth would be mad at her again, mad that she hadn't found her before any of this happened.

But Glenn, in his true fashion, couldn't hold out any longer and pulled her along with him into the clearing.

At the sound of someone emerging, Beth's head swiveled, the sight making her not only do a double take, but tears flooded her eyes as well. It took a moment to really see who it was, but the pair was not to be mistaken. Not when they were so familiar to her.

Maggie.

Glenn.

"Oh my God," Beth whispered before rushing to her sister. The older sister opened her arms and they had matching tears as they embraced. Beth was sure to refrain from squeezing Maggie's midsection, but it was hard as adrenaline wore off and the heady thoughts of what could have just happened came to the surface.

Her sister had just saved her, and that meant everything. Beth hiccupped as Maggie petted her head affectionately. There was no words spoken, there was no need and they had all become accustomed to the quiet lifestyle.

Glenn embraced Carl, taking the child from his arms. Beth was just starting to pull back from her sister when Carl picked up Peck, who was very much still alive and very loud. Through her tears, Maggie laughed. "I knew I wasn't crazy! I heard that chicken."

Glenn laughed too, and they were all once again swept up into the relief of finding each other, finding another person in this world that they knew would bring no harm.

Carl, who was holding Peck into the group hug as the pet he had become, had to pull away from Judith's pulling hands as she successfully plucked one of its feathers. The chicken squawked in protest.

They all laughed and marveled over the little girl with a feather.

…

Daryl was finding it hard to hear anything other than his own heart thumping.

The gunshot had been a considerably far distance away, even though he could still hear the ringing in his ears like he had been right there. And the further they travelled towards where he knew the sound came from, more and more walkers were interrupting their path.

It was quiet when Michonne took a sudden breath of air as if surprised – her katana making a _swoosh_ noise as she grounded the rotten face that had stumbled in front of them. The only way he knew they were getting closer to where human activity obviously remained, was the growing number of dead.

Stumbling around in the dark was starting to get a little tedious

"Another mile and we're out," Rick whispered as all three of them looked to the body of the beheaded walker.

Daryl reluctantly nodded but Rick wasn't looking because he was patting the pockets of the rotten thing.

…

"We should start to move," Glenn reminded the group as he caught a stray walker between the eyes, flicking his knife expertly after pulling and shoving the dead body away.

Beth, though still in the holds of her older sister, nodded and gave him a grateful upturn of her lip. She was thankful that she had others here with her, Glenn and Maggie weren't shy in making decisions. Beth had been a follower since perhaps the end of the world even happened; no matter how strong she knew she was, she still didn't like making the decisions.

And even though she was relieved to not be quite as alone as she had been with Carl and Judith, her heart still ached for the missing piece.

 _Her_ missing piece.

Beth was careful to let go of Maggie slowly, the emotional wear becoming more than evident in her pregnant sisters face. She gently laid a hand on her sisters growing abdomen, and the pair of Greene sisters had tears in their eyes and streaming down their faces.

The baby moved under Beth's hand, and she let out a small gasp. She had gone through so much, had seen so much – been put through so much. And yet, life still had a way of moving on, and she was reminded not for the first time, that time didn't stop for anything or anyone.

Maggie chuckled and wiped angrily at her tears. "I still can't believe it."

She nodded, a shiver running down her spine at the thought of what had just happened. Or, more than rather, what could have just happened. "Me neither."

As Beth looked back around she realized that Carl had Peck and Judith ready to go, the baby sleeping soundly on Glenn's chest as he scanned the area in front of them. As far as she knew they were still somewhere close to Alexandria – which meant that the herd that had so easily trampled over the Safe Zone was still in the area.

She sighed, grabbing onto Maggie's hand to keep her steady as they began walking again.

…

"Ouf!"

Michonne was to Daryl's left when he heard her give out an involuntary grunt as she came in contact with something, and Rick only had a few seconds before he caught her by the arm, hauling her back to her feet.

It was dark and they were running, so he didn't pay much attention as he began to start off again; they had to be getting close, he just knew it. He could feel it.

"Wait," Michonne spoke up, bending down to look at the object of question she had just tripped over. And even in the dark, Daryl could see Rick's eyes light up.

Rick kneeled down beside her, but Daryl stood watching.

"Fresh," Rick announced, rubbing a hand through his beard like he usually did when he was trying to figure something out. Rick's cop skills were present but Daryl was pretty sure it didn't take a genius to figure out the guy had gone down not long ago. There were enough walkers crawling around here that chased a good meal. "I'd say this is our guy."

Daryl felt his stomach hit the floor, he turned away unable to look at them right now.

…

Even though it was dark, it was decided that they were going to travel until daybreak, any thought of sleep long gone since the mishap, even if it was hours ago.

Beth's heart was still beating a mile a minute, and her hair on the back of her neck had been standing at attention since the man had tried to grab Judith. The further they walked in silence, the longer she had to mull and replay everything.

The only thing keeping her sane was the pressure of Maggie's hand in hers, and the occasional tug as her sister lost her footing with her unproportioned balance. At the very moment, Beth counted this the ninth time she had to grab hold of Maggie's shoulder and decided enough was enough.

"Common," Beth said, quiet but loud enough for everyone to hear. "Let's take a break."

Maggie didn't wait for anyone to confirm that they would stop for a break before she slumped down right where she stood, her back barely against a tree. Beth could tell that this was hard on her sister, and she tried to keep herself focused on only Maggie.

If she looked at Carl, and especially Judith right now, all she would think about was Lori.

Beth settled her pack behind her sister's back, to which her older sister sighed and leaned back against. She waited until her breathing was back to normal, when she spoke. "I'm okay Bethy, just a little tired."

Beth nodded, though she wasn't convinced.

…

Daryl was sitting with his head in his hands as Michonne and Rick took care of the body that they had stumbled over. A bullet hole in the middle of the eyes – an easy way to go in this world. The man would have no chance in reincarnating – something that was well known to the lasting survivors of this world.

They found a gun in his hand, and maybe Rick was right. It could've been a suicide, would make sense.

Except his eyes were open.

He was frozen in place, and he wasn't sure if minutes or hours had passed, but the sun was starting to make its way up in the sky. It was warm and welcome after the night of running and adrenaline they had had, but Daryl was hardly aware of it. Even though the sun was beginning to come overhead, and spring was starting to bring along the hot Southern heat, Daryl felt cold. His sun was missing.

 _His_ sun.

Rick put a hand on his shoulder, but he was numb and the only reason he felt it was because he cast his eyes up towards the man. "We'll keep looking."

Daryl nodded, and when the exhaustion finally took over, he didn't dream.

…

The sun was overhead before anyone spoke again, Carl and Judith sleeping soundly together, and even Glenn had drifted off about an hour ago with the okay from both of them. Beth knew that Maggie should be sleeping, but the mother to be had only laughed at that.

"I don't think I've slept more than twenty four hours since I got pregnant," Maggie whispered, closing her eyes and rubbing her hips. She was sore and achy, anyone with vision could see that. Beth felt bad – really bad. Maggie should be living in her little house with the old chesterfield back in Alexandria. She should be tucked into a warm bed with a fire roaring on the floor below her. She should be resting and eating plenty and not having to worry about the dead around every corner.

But Maggie, like Lori, didn't have that option available. She tried with all her might to not let her eyes stray to the baby that lie on Carl's chest sound asleep.

"Don't try and stay awake," Beth advised, clearing her throat because she hadn't spoken in a while. "I got watch."

It was silent after that, and when Beth finally did look up, she was greeted with once again shiny eyes from her sister. "When did you grow up?"

Maggie was a mess of sniffles and tears, but Beth still moved a little closer. She shrugged at the question, trying to pinpoint exactly when she had grown up herself. Maybe it was when Momma died and she made the decision to live. Maybe it was when the farm fell, or the prison. Or it could have been when she watched her Daddy be beheaded in front of her, or it could've been when she was taken away from Daryl back at that damn funeral home.

It was hard to say, but it was evident that she was no longer the little farm girl who went to church faithfully every Sunday and thought her Momma would always be her best friend. She was no longer the little girl Maggie expected to see.

"Oh God, Bethy!" Maggie squealed, waking up Peck in the process who squawked in protest and looked at them both as if to say keep it down.

And Beth was confused herself until Maggie grabbed her left hand and held it up to her face. Beth's own face blushed a red, until she thought of how and why she had gotten the ring she donned on her left ring finger. Her eyes were crestfallen as she looked at her older sister, and even though she was a little freaked out that Maggie was crying over everything all of a sudden, she wanted to cry alongside of her.

Maggie sniffled and gently let Beth's hand down. Since Maggie had come to their rescue, she hadn't asked where Daryl was; and Beth was fine with that because she didn't want to upset anyone when they were all so fortunate they were together again. "It's beautiful."

Beth tried to smile, but failed.

…

Daryl woke to the sound of a chicken.

His eyes snapped open as he abruptly sat up and he wondered if he was back in that blessed trailer that Will Dixon lived in. The neighbor's house beside Will's had looked very similar to the old trailer that they resided in after the death of his Mother, and it was far enough away to not see but fuck he used to get mad at them chickens.

Squawking and clucking and waking him up too damn early.

He caught Michonne's wide eyes as soon he sat up. She had been on watch and Rick was still sleeping, but they spoke with no communication as they both got to their feet and shouldered their packs.

 **TBC**

 **I planned this to be my last chapter.** _ **Planned**_ **being the key word. Please let me know what you think!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: I don't know how to feel now that this is over. It's honestly been such a big part of my everyday thoughts – plots and ideas and everything alike. I've been blown away by the followers and reviewers; I know I've said it a million time but you guys are awesome.**

 **Real**

 **Chapter Twenty**

"Thanks," Beth replied after she swallowed the lump in her throat the best she could. Every time the sun hit her ring just right, she was reminded that the man who gave it to her was out there somewhere. The tally's on the back of the colouring book she'd taken for Judith was beginning to get longer and longer. And it was only a whisper as she reminded her sister. "It's been almost three weeks."

Maggie made a scene of situating herself again before she looked at Beth with knowing eyes. "Beth, this is Daryl Dixon we're talking about here."

The old Beth would have nodded her head and probably agreed with her sister to avoid the conflict, but the new Beth couldn't help but feel a bang of anger course throughout her body. What did Maggie know about Daryl and who was she to remind her? _She_ was the one in love with Daryl, the one who he spent quite a bit of his time with. Well, _did_ spend time with. What did Maggie know?

"Common Beth," Maggie chuckled, shrugging her shoulders, unaware of the anger brewing in this pit of her younger sister's stomach. "Of course he made it. We'll keep looking, I promise."

The anger deflated out of her like someone had just popped a balloon. Here was her five month pregnant sister promising her things, promising her that she would continue to search for Daryl Dixon in her condition. Beth squeezed her left hand that her sister still had a hold of.

She wanted to believe her sister, she really did.

The pair remained quiet, so quiet that when they heard the bushes and trees whish with movement, Beth stood up and in front of her sister. She spotted her knife beside Carl's head and grabbed it, waiting and waiting for whatever it was to emerge.

She knew that she had her time with Daryl to thank for her heightened senses.

Maggie stood behind her, and Beth squared her feet in front of her. This time she was going to be ready – she was done with being taken off guard. Done with people taking advantage of her when she was trying to be nothing but good.

 _So we will drink beer all day  
And our guards will give way  
And we'll be good_

As the sound got closer Beth could feel her heartbeat pick up. The footsteps were way too fast to be walker and between a wild animal and another human being, Beth wasn't too sure who she would rather have to face off.

Maggie turned and woke the rest of them in an urgent whispered tone, and there was no sign of grogginess as Glenn pulled out his own knife and stood to watch as well. They didn't have time to run, especially not with Maggie, and there was nowhere to hide.

Beth let out a steady breathe and counted to three.

 _One… Two…_

She shook her head to prepare herself.

 _Three._

The dark eyes that came seemingly out of nowhere stopped and stared at them with their knives wielded, her own long sword pointed at them. Beth watched on with wide eyes herself – and then it happened.

Recognition.

"Michonne!" Carl exclaimed, pure excitement lacing his words. The woman stood and stared another full second before she let out a breathy laugh. The teenager embraced the woman, the katana momentarily falling to the ground in front of them.

Beth watched as Rick stumbled out of the thick overgrowth behind Michonne, and it only took Carl a second to register that his father was standing in front of him before he threw an arm around his father's neck as well. Rick's face melted from confusion to tears shining in his eyes. "Carl."

She smiled at the scene as once again Rick Grimes' was reunited with his children. Carl was startlingly level with his father now, and even Judith looked a lot bigger sitting on her father's arm as she presented him the now stubby yellow crayon.

Beth was so caught up in watching the scene unfold in front of her, she almost missed when Maggie took an audible breathe of air. She turned, looking at her sister who had a hand over her mouth, tears prickling her eyes for probably the tenth time since they had been reunited.

"Beth," her sister whispered, and when she looked to what her sister was looking at, she stared.

…

"Listen," Michonne whispered, putting a hand up to the men who followed her. It wasn't the norm, having Rick and Daryl both follow after someone else, but she had picked up on something they hadn't. Something that she couldn't blame them for not picking up on.

Prenatal gummi's.

There were only two that she could see, but they were florescent orange and stood out directly in her line of vision under a tree with a predominant trunk. She didn't tell them what she saw, or what they were. Because for Michonne, it was just too painful to remember that she had once taken the same ones.

The only person she knew of that could be pregnant and surviving – well she wasn't the Greene they were looking for but it would be a start.

"What?" Daryl growled, his patience becoming noticeably thinner as time went on. He had been so sure that the gunshot would lead directly to Beth, and Michonne had a hard time even looking at the despair in the redneck's eyes right now.

She knew all too well what it was like to lose someone that meant everything.

As the three of them stilled at her notion, when there was no rustling of trees or ground underfoot, they heard it. Daryl could hear maybe more than the others, but what they all heard was not to be mistaken.

Snoring.

Light snoring, and it was obvious that whoever it was coming from was just around this corner. There was no discussion when Michonne strode forward with her katana raised and ready.

…

Daryl came out of the thick wooded area into the clearing last, not because it was planned but just because that's how they had been travelling at the time. He could physically feel himself returning to the quiet and surely man who he'd been the first time she had been taken away.

His emotions that she had been beginning to open up were turning back into the one that always seemed to be present, readily available; annoyance.

He couldn't help it.

He was losing his mind.

"Michonne!" He heard someone cry out, and at the voice he noticed that Rick sprinted the last little bit of distance between them and the small clearing. Daryl knew that voice, even though he hadn't heard it for a long while.

When he rounded the clearing, he felt his stomach heave and his heart stop.

And once again, very much like the first time he had gone for much too long without Beth Greene, he couldn't hear anything or anyone.

When he first became visible, she was looking at her sister in concern. And he couldn't really recall ever seeing Maggie Greene Rhee cry, but tears streamed down her face as their eyes connected across the clearing, and her hand went to cover her mouth before whispering, "Beth."

And when the girl in question swiveled her head towards him, oh god he felt his heart jump to his throat. Those eyes, those blue eyes were staring at him as if he had popped up out of nowhere. And he supposed he sort of had, but his brain couldn't register much right now.

Everything was in slow motion.

He vaguely heard his crossbow hit the ground with a dull thud, but couldn't remember letting his grip loosen. His knees felt like they were made of jelly as he took her in, his feet once again planted to the ground beneath him. She was okay, she was prospering even, with tears quickly building in her blue orbs. She looked fed and as kempt as she could be while surviving in the middle of the Virginia woods – she looked absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.

Her hair that wasn't pulled back into her normal ponytail was a wild halo around her head, her jeans streaked with blood and a small colouring book hanging out of her back pocket. And she was staring at him, she was staring with such wide eyes that he thought maybe she thought she was dreaming herself.

Because he sure did.

When the strangled cry was heard, Daryl was more than aware that it came from her.

It felt like she was running towards him forever, but in reality he only had a second to open his arms before she threw herself at him – and he caught her. He caught her around the shoulder blades and he hung on. He hung on for all he was worth because she smelled like sunshine and flowers, and he wasn't right sure how she always held the same smell when everything was stagnant and dead around them.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck.

She was crying, full out bawling as heavy sobs wracked her body that was pressed up against his, her face buried within the confines of his chest. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and much like their first reunion; when he fell, she went with him. They landed in a tangle of limbs and sobs as the pair reveled in the comfort of having each other again.

Of finding each other in a world that kept insisting they be apart.

As Beth finally lifted her face to his, her eyes were red rimmed and full of tears, but the smile that she donned was blinding. So blinding that it didn't falter when he put his hands on either side of her face, the moment turning from pure relief to smoldering in seconds.

"Christ girl," he murmured, his own voice thick and scratchy from the emotions playing so close to the surface. He brushed his thumb over the long scar on her wet cheek, brushing a strand of the blonde hair that had been tormenting his dreams out of her face.

She smiled, because where it wasn't a big profound announcement of love, it was everything and more to her. _He_ was everything and more to her, and being back in his arms was a feeling that could never compete. It was the best feeling in the entire world; both the old world and the apocalyptic world, she had never felt anything so comforting. Beth put her hand over one of his on her face, and her tears were so thick in her eyes that she couldn't clearly see when he brought her left hand into his much bigger one, and rolled the ring around on her finger.

She kissed him then, forgetting about the small crowd that was watching on with tears in their own eyes.

…

They both lost track of time while in their heap of tangled limbs on the ground, and as Beth moved she thought maybe it could've been hours with how stiff her joints felt.

The others had stopped watching the scene a while ago, and now as she looked around her she realized that everyone had settled down. Glenn had Maggie against his chest, his hands sprawled over her stomach and they were whispering to each other in hushed voices with small smiles on their faces.

Michonne was sitting beside Carl who sat alongside his father, who had Judith propped up into his arms. She was happy to see him with his daughter – the two definitely needed to be reacquainted with each other again. She supposed Rick wasn't getting any trophies with the title of 'best father of the year', but such things didn't exist anymore, anyways. He was doing the best he could, the best he knew how. All Beth hoped was that after this scare that Rick would put his need for power away and concentrate on what mattered.

Daryl grunted as she moved to sit in front of him, instead of on him. They remained silent, relishing in the comfort of being together again; words were not needed.

Peck, who was meandering around the tree he was tied to, clucked. She felt against her back more than heard the grunt Daryl let out at the sound. "Stupid thing, gon' get us all killed."

"Don't talk about Peck like that." Beth swatted his arm in mock hurt, giving him the most bashful look she could muster. But then she let her eyes fall to her hands, her once smooth palms calloused, as she thought about just how much that chicken had really saved the three of them.

He didn't laugh but she felt him pull her a little closer, his forehead coming in contact with her shoulder. Relief. She sighed in contentment, playing with the ring on her finger as she watched over their small remaining group.

She wondered how long it had been since the group had found the cabin – how long it had been since Daryl and her had picked up where they had left off. Had it been a year? Was everyone else okay? With time and dates being no longer valid, it was all hard to say.

But three weeks without Daryl Dixon, well it had been too much.

She let her thoughts run wild, thought over the moments that had lead them to where they are now, thought about how she had felt when she was trapped and cuffed, back at that cabin. Thought about how the man that had grabbed Judith back there, how much it had triggered her panic – and she had fought back. She had kicked that guy right where the sun doesn't shine, and for the first time since perhaps the apocalypse happened, she didn't feel bad.

She felt _good_ about it.

And she had only this man sitting behind her to thank. She was just about to turn around to fill him in on the events of what had happened while they were apart, when his hand came into her view; her eyes widening at the sight.

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Daryl Dixon?" She joked as she took the Mason jar from his hand, twisting the lid off in one motion. It was moonshine alright, she could smell the pure alcohol as soon as she opened the jar.

She felt him shrug. "Missed you when you was gone."

And this time, when she took a full mouthful, she didn't ask if it would make her go blind.

 **FIN**

 **So, please tell me what you think! Keep an eye out for a very short sequel (it may only be one chapter, we shall see) because I've already started working on it/have leftovers that didn't fit in this story.**


	21. Home Again

**Author's Note: Hi guys, I just wanted to let you all know that I am in the midst of writing a sequel for this story. 'Home Again' is the name of the sequel, for those of you who are interested in looking into it, and you can find it on my page (hollywar). Just like this story, it's already taking off and becoming more than originally planned.**

 **Home Again**

 **Chapter One**

 _"They went back to Georgia._

 _Not because they had anything there, but because they didn't know where else to go. They needed to have a purpose, somewhere to go…"_

 **TBC over in the sequel.**


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